Chile, in a panic due to security instability and violence, elects a president, and forceful speeches intensify

Bellavista area, very close to the center santiago de chiletraditionally a bohemian area lined with bars, cafes, bookstores and a gathering place for evening gatherings to share tapas and drinks. However, many Chileans today are afraid to walk outside when the sun sets and nearby offices and businesses close. Police reports in recent months have reported robberies of tourists and local residents. Nowadays, cafes, ice cream parlors, and small shops have customers during the day, but at night they seem to lose their vibrancy.

Fear takes root in Chilean society And the candidates running this Sunday’s presidential election echoed this phenomenon. Insecurity, illegal immigration due to the rise in organized crime, and the need for emergency measures were the issues that dominated the entire campaign, especially this last part.

far right leader Jose Antonio CastoHe has emerged as one of the top candidates after Janet Jara from the centre-left ruling party. Promise to deport illegal immigrants Just like Donald Trump is doing in the US. In recent weeks, there has been increased activity on social networks, which have long warned migrants entering the country illegally from the northern border that they have little time left before leaving.

“Today Chileans are afraid. In the future they will be afraid of drug traffickers, organized crime and terrorists,” Casto said Monday during the last televised debate attended by eight presidential candidates.

The 59-year-old former ultra-conservative lawmaker has proposed fighting crime with ultra-secure prisons, toughening penalties and deploying troops and police to key areas, as well as building walls, opening ditches and deploying 3,000 soldiers to stop the influx.

Mr. Hara, 51, a Communist Party member who is part of the disparate center-left coalition that propelled Gabriel Boric to the presidency four years ago, also promises stronger security, but with a different perspective.

“I would like to call on right-wing candidates to go after those who control the money in drug trafficking and organized crime. That is really high-handed,” Hara said during Monday’s debate. At the last campaign event, he said: Build more prisons and increase security in critical areas.

The more moderate right-wing candidate Evelyn Massey, who was in between third and fourth place in the latest voting polls, but many analysts are not ruling out a last-minute pushback, has also made security a central issue of her campaign.

“During my trip to Chile, I witnessed the terror of my neighbors. I want to say to all families: This situation will end on March 11, 2026 (when a new government takes office). We will restore security with determination, authority, intelligence and common sense. We will fight organized crime with the full force of our nation,” he said at an event in the Biobio region on Wednesday night.

Far-right candidate Johannes Kaiser, who is close to Kast in the latest opinion polls and is betting on advancing to a run-off election scheduled for December, has made his message clear.

Kaiser was the first candidate to support the security operation carried out by police in Rio de Janeiro, which ended with more than 130 deaths. He defended the death penalty, stressing that if he won the election, he would “propose tougher punishments for all crimes.” And like President Trump, he talked about deporting illegal immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

In Chile, the murder rate has tripled in the past decade (2.5 to 6.7 per 100,000 inhabitants)However, the country remains one of the safest countries in Latin America, according to the United Nations.

According to a study published by Ipsos in October and published by the BBC, almost all 2 in 3 Chilean adults (63%) They point to crime and violence as the issues that concern them most.

This is a higher level of concern than in Mexico (59%) or Colombia (45%), the study added, despite the fact that homicide rates are more than four times higher in these countries.

In fact, chili looks like this: Concern about crime and violence is second highest of 30 countries The study included participants from different continents.

“Chile is one of the most frightening countries in the world. Chile has standards of horror that attract attention because they do not match the crime figures. it’s too big a fear” points out clarion Director of the consultancy Tú Influyes and academic at the Central University of Chile, Axel Calis.

“And this is because, until recently, Chile was a fairly closed-border country, and we didn’t have the large-scale migration that we have now, especially from Colombia and Venezuela,” he explains.

According to official statistics, there are approximately 337,000 undocumented foreigners living in Chile, most of them Venezuelans.

“There has been crime in this country before, but this was different. The criminals were Chilean and even had a specific code of ethics. But thanks to organized crime that came in with new immigrants, they are now much more violent crimes,” Karis elaborates.

The problem is that in Chile, while there were riots and wallets and cellphone thefts on the streets, no different from what we see in Buenos Aires and many other cities in the region, it wasn’t as common for people to die as a result of violence. The number of murders has increased significantly in recent years, and above all, the level of violence has escalated alarmingly.

“Four years ago I voted for Gabriel Boric, but now I don’t want the same thing anymore. I don’t want my children to be killed and I’m not afraid to be on the streets.“Alex, a taxi driver, also commented to the envoy that he was disillusioned by Boric’s unfulfilled promises, such as lower fuel taxes. His words reflect the feelings of millions of people here from all political backgrounds and social classes.

“You can also visit Patio Bellavista, which has a bar, ice cream parlor and cafe, but be sure to go during the day and avoid leaving the area,” the envoy recommends. Tourists still tour the neighborhood. But there’s a sense of danger and anxiety in Santiago’s warm November air.