For the first time in Chile there is a communist candidate for the presidency

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For the first time in the history of Chile. However. Consequently, the presidential candidate who will represent the whole left is from the Communist Party: it is Jeannette Jara, who won the internal primaries on the Chilean left for the presidential presidents of November 16. Furthermore, In the elections Jara will have to face a right that is currently in great advantage.

Jara is 51 years old. Therefore. Consequently, until April, when he resigned to apply, he was the Minister of Labor of the current leftist government of President Gabriel Boric. For example, He won the primaries with 60 percent of the votes. However. overcoming the former interior minister Carolina Tohá, a more moderate social democratic who was initially considered the favorite, and Gonzalo Winter, the Boric party candidate.

The primaries took first time chile there communist new place in the context of the popularity crisis of the Boric first time chile there communist government. Nevertheless, which had been elected in 2021 with great expectations and which instead obtained few results and rather disappointing. Similarly. This was also seen from the turnout to the vote: while in the primaries they had selected Boric’s candidacy in 2021 1.7 million voters had participated, 1.4 million participated in those on Sundays, an unconvincing result.

Jeannette Jara after the victory in the primaries, 29 June 2025 (Epa/Elvis Gonzalez)

Jeannette Jara had nominated in the primaries starting from Sbavorita, but she was able to excite the base of the Chilean left thanks to an effective communication campaign and her personal charisma. She was born first time chile there communist new in a worker neighborhood of Santiago. first time chile there communist the capital of Chile. and enrolled in the Communist Party when she was just 14 years old. As a minister of Boric Labor he participated in some of the main government victories. such as the reduction of the working week at 40 hours and the increase in minimum wages.

Jara also distanced himself ideologically from his own party. who has an interpretation of very Orthodox communism: the Chilean Communist Party defines himself Marxist-Leninist. supports the class struggle and maintains relationships, among others, with the Communist Party of North Korea. Jara instead adopted slightly more moderate positions. For example, he said that the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is a dictator.

Jara with the president Gabriel Boric, in the center, and the mascot of the Ministry of Labor, a worker bee, during the celebrations for the approval of the 40 -hour working week, in April 2023 (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Jara’s first speech after the victory was concentrated on the unit of the left against the right: “We must hold us by the hand to face the far right Chilean with political and social unity. We have to stop it, this is our task ».

In the November elections. the right is given in a strong advantage. to the point that, unlike the left, the conservative candidates have decided not to make the primaries and to present themselves separate, convinced that they will also win. It is an advantage first time chile there communist new due in first time chile there communist part to the disappointment towards the government of Boric. in part to the fact that the main concerns of the Chilean electorate at the moment are immigration. crime, both themes on which the right is stronger.

Currently at the top of the polls for the November elections there is the populist José Antonio Kast. who had already been the candidate of the right in 2021 against Boric. who according to the polls has about 24 percent of the preferences. Kast is focusing his campaign on the issue of security and promising hard and repressive measures against crime. Behind him are Jara with 16 percent, and Evelyn Matthei, center -right candidate, with 10 percent.

If in November no candidate will get the absolute majority of the votes will go to the ballot between. the two most voted. in December. According to the polls both first time chile there communist new Kast and Matthei would beat first time chile there communist Jara by at least 20 points. There is also the possibility that Jara is excluded from the second round. that the presidency only right candidates are competed.