The meeting, broadcast on Chilevision, lasted until early Thursday morning and included Jeannette Jara, of the ruling party alliance; Jose Antonio Kast, of the far-right Republican Party; and Evelyn Matthei, of the right-wing Chile Vamos coalition.
Also present were Franco Parisi, of the conservative People’s Party; Johannes Kaiser, of the National Libertarian Party (close to the ideas of Javier Milei); and independents Eduardo Artes, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, and Marco Enriquez Ominami.
In terms of health, the main promises of the candidates for La Moneda presidential seat are to reduce waiting lists for specialized consultations or access to surgery, improve primary care, prioritize cancer patients, and strengthen telemedicine.
Regarding migration, there are extreme proposals, especially from the right-wing sectors that advocate digging ditches, blowing up borders, and expelling foreigners.
Left-wing, progressive, and independent candidates, on the other hand, oppose the criminalization of migration, advocate recognizing its contributions to society, and registering those who come to work, not to commit crimes.
Regarding insecurity and crime, the range of proposals ranges from a tough policy, strengthening the police, and creating more prisons, to measures aimed at prevention, organizing residents, and lifting bank secrecy to crack down on money laundering.
One of the issues that generated tension at the start was the recent complaint against Republican candidate Jose Antonio Kast for using fake news to discredit Evelyn Matthei and Jeannette Jara.
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