WIREDGOV

The vote pits left- and right-wing approaches to tackling crime and redefining the country’s alignment with global partners.

On Sunday 16 November, Chile held presidential and congressional elections renewing half of the Senate and the entirety of the Deputies chamber. Since none of the eight presidential candidates obtained more than 50%, the country will proceed to a runoff on Sunday 14 December between the top seeded, the communist candidate Jannette Jara, who heads a left-wing coalition, and the right-winger José Antonio Kast, who is seeking the presidency for the third time.

Although the right had hoped to secure a majority in both chambers and ideally the 4/7 quorum needed to modify certain laws, the results fell short due to major parties deciding to run on separate lists. As a consequence, the composition of Congress will not change significantly and the next government (2026-2030) will have to negotiate with the opposition, likely pursuing more moderate security and economic policies, by far the biggest worries among Chileans.

In the campaign trial, most presidential candidates presented similar diagnoses on public security. They agreed that crime levels are high, Chileans feel fear and instability, organised crime has strengthened considerably, the porous northern borders with Bolivia and Peru are a major contributor to illegal and uncontrolled immigration, some territories have been overtaken by narco‑criminal groups due to state abandonment and that terrorist activity linked to Mapuche-radicalised groups in the Araucanía region must be reduced.

Despite a harsher tone supporting iron-fist policies, Chile needs not just a security state but a national security architecture that includes intelligence, military modernisation and cross-border cooperation, to counter the rising transnational crime reshaping politics and policy in the country.

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