Name: Leftist Jara leads Chile vote as far-right Kast eyes runoff victory
Uploaded: 2025-11-17T15:07:42.886Z
Duration: 2 min 46 s
Description: Governing coalition candidate Jeanette Jara holds a slim lead over far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast in Chile’s presidential election, setting the stage for a high-stakes runoff next month. Kast vows to win in December as crime and immigration dominate voter concerns.

Governing coalition candidate Jeanette Jara holds a slim lead over far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast in Chile’s presidential election, setting the stage for a high-stakes runoff next month. Kast vows to win in December as crime and immigration dominate voter concerns.

Santiago

Governing coalition candidate Yanet Hara secured a narrow lead over far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast in the first round of Chile's presidential election, with 27% of the vote to Kast's 24%. Despite trailing, analysts expect Kast to gain support from other right-wing parties in the runoff scheduled for December 14, making him the favorite to win.

Both candidates have focused their campaigns on tackling crime and immigration. Hara, a former Labor Minister, has proposed strengthening police, increasing social welfare, and lifting banking secrecy to combat organized crime. Kast, meanwhile, has advocated for stricter immigration controls and deploying the military to high-crime areas. The runoff will present voters with a stark ideological choice, reflecting broader political shifts in Latin America.

Leftist Jara leads Chile vote as far-right Kast eyes runoff victory

Governing coalition candidate Yanet Hara held a narrow lead over far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast in Chile's presidential election on Sunday. While Kast lagged behind with 24 percent of the vote versus Hara's 27, he is still favored to clinch a runoff victory next month. Analysts expect supporters of other right-wing parties to back him in a decisive vote, and he declared victory on Sunday, despite the first-round defeat. Today, it became clear that the opposition defeated a failed government, a government that did not know how to lead the country. The only real victory, the only victory that will make us celebrate, is when we defeat organized crime and drug trafficking. The election on December 14th is not just any election. It will be the most important election of our generation. An eventual win for Kast would put in place an administration that is further to the right than any since the Pinochet dictatorship. The candidate has previously proposed building a border wall with trenches, expelling all undocumented migrants, and deploying the military to high-crime neighborhoods. Meantime, as Hara's supporters celebrated her advance to the runoffs, she vowed to strengthen immigration controls and pursue organized crime. The need to move toward more effective immigration control is to strengthen public safety. And that is why, together, we are going to strengthen the police and preventive measures. We are going to insist that Chile lift back in secrecy and follow the dirty money trail. Hara was the former Labor Minister under current President Gabriel Boric. She has downplayed her Communist Party ties and proposed increasing the minimum wage while boosting funding for social welfare and health care. Hara has also advocated for stronger gun controls, technological surveillance on the border, and lifting banking secrecy laws to pursue organized crime groups. Her supporters remain hopeful for the runoffs. Of course, the victory was assured from the outset. She was going to the second round. Now we must hope that the other candidates support her so that the country wins. Because our politicians, for the people, must win. The December 14 runoff will pit the two ideological extremes against each other, with many voters signaling that they are prioritizing crime and immigration over progressive reforms that defined the last election. A rightward tilt would mirror recent leftist defeats across Latin America and encourage right-wing candidates in Colombia, Peru and Brazil, where security fears also loom as a key issue.

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