Overview
- Chile votes in a Dec. 14 runoff between Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right Republican José Antonio Kast.
- Kast enters as the polling favorite after right-of-center contenders coalesced behind him following a first round where conservatives won a majority.
- In closing events, Kast centered his message on public security and migration control, pledging mass deportations, stronger police powers and expanded maximum-security prisons.
- Jara, a former labor minister who advanced a reduced workweek and pension changes under President Gabriel Boric, has emphasized social protections while promising tougher action on crime.
- Kast also touts market-friendly cuts of about $6 billion and deregulation, proposals critics warn could roll back recent social gains and echo his perceived nostalgia for Pinochet.