Chilean presidential elections to enter second-round run-off

Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric will face far-right Jose Antonio Kast next month as the Chilean presidential election goes to a run-off.

Mr. Boric, prominent as a leader of the anti-government protest movement, polled second in Sunday’s first round with 25 percent of the vote.

The Apruebo Dignidad coalition candidate is up against Mr. Kast, a far-right lawyer for the Partido Republicana, who secured first place with 28 percent.

It is the first time since the restoration of democracy in Chile in 1990 that the presidential candidates are not from either the Independent Democratic Union or the Socialist Party.

Mr. Kast has portrayed the choice for Chileans as between “freedom and communism,” blaming the social unrest that swept the country in 2019 and 2020 on “rioters and delinquents.”

But his leftist rival spoke of a “crusade in which hope wins over fear” as he thanked voters for giving him a historic mandate.

The second round of elections will take place on December 19.

Morning Star