Republicans have focused their speeches on security, the economy and immigration, avoiding any mention of issues sensitive to the right as they head into their first elections.
Chilean Republican Party candidate José Antonio Casto faces his third election with a campaign marked by rising poll numbers and a message focused on security, the economy and immigration, expressed under the idea of an “emergency government”. The far-right has avoided delving into issues that are sensitive to the right, such as abortion and gender equality, and has sought to differentiate itself from Evelyn Matei, the leader of Chile Vamos, who ran the election as party leader.
This Sunday, November 16th, Chileans will go to the polls to choose President Gabriel Boric’s successor. Eight candidates are on the ballot for La Moneda, but polls show Janet Hara as the ruling party’s favorite, with the race to include her in the second round centered on right-wing candidates Kast, Mattei and Johannes Kaiser. Everything indicates that the result will be decided on December 14th, since an absolute majority is required on the first day, that is, more than half of the votes to determine the winner.
The former right-wing lawmaker focused his speech on security and immigration issues under the concept of an emergency government.
Republicans gave speeches focused on criticizing the government and left-wing candidates. “Jara is Borrick and Borrick is Jara,” he told a crowd of more than 10,000 people.
The line “I am Evelyn looking forward” alludes to Casto, stating that “another solution should be my friend José Antonio.” The candidate responded by calling his opponent’s song a “mistake.”
Casto announced a strategy to encourage illegal immigrants living in Chile to leave the country and to help pay for their passage to their countries of origin.
Cardinal Fernando Ciomali of the Catholic Church called for finding ways to properly regulate immigration.
Faced with Casto’s proposal to cut government spending by $6 billion, Chile’s president asserted that his country does not have to choose between fiscal irresponsibility and social laziness.
Responding to accusations that Matei has never ruled, Kast said he felt the party was “very ready” to lead from the executive and parliament.
Tensions within the movement increased after comments made by Casto’s right-hand man and communications director Cristian Valenzuela in the newspaper La Tercera.
Unlike in the 2021 presidential election, Republicans are avoiding issues of personal freedom and placing women in senior positions on their teams.
Chile’s radical right-wing candidate traveled to Rome to meet with Italy’s prime minister to discuss how to confront illegal immigration.
Opinion polls showed Mr. Casto and Mr. Jara with a narrow lead, so they took center stage in the first debate, contrasting their positions on how to lift the country out of economic stagnation and tackle the security crisis and immigration.
Adriazola, a lawyer and mother of nine children, has taken on a more public role in her third attempt at La Moneda with her husband.
Mr. Casto’s approval rating is increasing. Six months after the election, he moved from third place to tie with front-runner Evelyn Massey.
Your subscription is being used on another device
Would you like to add another user to your subscription?
If you continue reading it on this device, it will no longer be readable on the other device.
why are you watching this?
arrow
Your subscription is being used on another device and you can only access EL PAÍS from one device at a time.
If you want to share your account, change your subscription to premium mode so you can add another user. Each user logs in with their own email account, allowing them to personalize their experience with EL PAÍS.
Already have a business subscription? Visit here to register for more accounts.
If you’re not sure who is using your account, we recommend changing your password now.
If you decide to continue sharing your account, this message will appear indefinitely on your device and the devices of others using your account, impacting your reading experience. Terms and conditions for digital subscriptions can be found here.
About the sign
She is an SEO editor and journalist at EL PAÍS America. Previously, he worked at Grupo Reforma and Televisa. She is originally from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and has been living in Mexico City since 2019.
Detailed information
file
About The Author
