Organized by the National Television Association (ANATEL), the candidates analyzed four thematic blocks: security, social policies, the economy, and governance, plus a segment of direct questions from journalists.
The final face-to-face debate before the elections featured Jeannette Jara, of the ruling party coalition plus the Christian Democrats (DC); Jose Antonio Kast, of the far-right Partido Republicano (Republican Party); and Franco Parisi, of the conservative Partido de la Gente (People’s Party).
Johannes Kaiser, of the Partido Nacional Libertario (National Libertarian Party), close to President Javier Milei’s ideas; Evelyn Matthei, of the right-wing Chile Vamos (Let’s Go Chile) coalition; and independent candidates Harold Mayne-Nicholls, Marco Enriquez-Ominami, and Eduardo Artes, were also present.
Regarding security, the right-wing and far-right candidates reiterated their extreme hardline stances, and Matthei said she would only offer organized crime groups, such as Tren de Aragua, the options of prison or the cemetery.
Kaiser, Kast, and Parisi used similar terms, while Artes affirmed that the fundamental issue is who benefits from organized crime. Mayne-Nicholls was the only one to mention prevention, based primarily on providing opportunities for young people.
Jara insisted on complementing security measures with support for community organizations and raised the necessity of tracing the money generated by crime.
She argued that this requires lifting bank secrecy, a project rejected by some candidates.
Closing borders, particularly in northern Chile, building more prisons, occupying territories controlled by organized crime, and reforming the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary were among the alternatives discussed.
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