The Chilean economy model faces trials as voters go to the polls

Chileans cast their ballots on Sunday in the first general election since anti-government protests two years ago. and voters lean excessively while rejecting the establishment of politics.

The election, which will probably end in December, looks like a referendum on the Chilean economic model that has provided the best growth in Latin America in the last few decades however. failed to share profits especially among people.

“The poor die in their poverty. Our country’s economy is badly distributed, “said Carolina Cavieres, a 35-year-old mother of two who voted in La Pintana, a working-class area south of Santiago.

Outside the polling station, 50-year-old José Peredo, who moved to La Pintana in 1983 while still in rural areas, said Chileans were disappointed because “[the elite] wants all the cookies. . . promised us that we would be equal if we were democratic, and saw what we had. ” He gestured with his hands to the rows of smaller houses overlooking a busy street.

The two successors to Chile’s next president have a very different vision for the future of the country.

Slowly leading the seven hopefuls to end the election was José Antonio Kast, 55, a caring father of nine children who defended free markets and cultural traditions. “Chile needs peace, Chile needs order. . . I invite you this Sunday to try it out with me, “Kast called the crowd at his final meeting on Thursday.

Kast has spoken out against migration, same-sex marriage and abortion. He has appealed to Chilean voters, who have been separated from the left, and pledges to restore order and reduce taxes under his new Republican party, which he founded in 2019.

His main rival is Gabriel Boric, a 35-year-old writer and former student leader. Boric swore abolition of the pension plan and burying the old “neoliberal” market principles that have failed to reduce social divisions. He is running as part of a left-wing wing coalition that includes the Chile Communist Party.

Boric, who would be the youngest president in the country for more than two centuries if elected, said that the so-called “Chilean miracle” was “externally, not for us”.

The big issue is not that people are very poor, says Marta Lagos, a Chilean researcher and sociologist in Santiago. “The people of Chile have a beginning,” he said in comparison to other Latin American countries, but did not share them equally.

“Where’s Mr Joe Average? No,” Lagos said, pointing out how about 50 percent of Chileans earn less than $ 800 a month, down from a global GDP of $ 1,100 recorded last year. World Bank.

“People want redistribution to change, which is why people like Boric came out,” Lagos said.

This Sunday is the first presidential vote since then spread, or explosion, of anti-government protests in 2019, triggered by a rise in revenue on the Santiago metro, which grew rapidly and angry. high cost of living and financial inequality.

A new congress, district councilors and more than half of the senate are expected.

Without a presidential candidate to be announced in the first round, the convention vote will be crucial on Monday, says Claudia Heiss, chief of political science at the University of Chile.

No one party is crowded and the smaller house is expected to be “more divided” on Sunday, Heiss said, as 13 different factions were forced to negotiate to get more.

“Independents on the left and right will get more seats. . . “Representatives will be forced to make concessions to make laws no matter who is president,” Heiss said.

Congress must approve a new terms of current legislation which will be submitted to plebiscite in the third quarter of next year. In July, a voter-electing meeting began to replace substituted divisions, which were enacted in 1980 during the reign of General Augusto Pinochet.

The law favors business corporations, which its supporters say have made the country more prosperous and alleviated the poverty of millions. But for many it represents the direct connection with dictatorship, though there are variations. The new summit could weaken the presidency and boost Chile’s growth.

Fasting Sunday is expected to rise. About 50 percent of the people are expected to vote, “good hope,” Lagos said. Unlike other Latin American countries, voting in Chile is voluntary. Participatory participation is partly driven by the “lack of interest” of voters and the “problem of representation” within the major parties, Lagos said.

Peredo of La Pintana said he tried to persuade his son at lunch to take him to the polling station. “I have been in debt for 20 years, it takes months to see a doctor and crime is on the rise. We need to take action. ”