Chile: Corruption and Violence Dominate Election Campaign

Chilean Electoral Tables, Oct 2024 Photo: @adnradiochile

October 2, 2024 Hour: 5:17 pm

In terms of preferences, the poll shows a technical tie between those who would vote for a candidate seeking re-election (37 per cent) and those who would vote for a candidate who represents change (38 per cent).

On Wednesday, ahead of the municipal and regional elections, two issues dominate the electoral landscape in Chile today: the growing climate of citizen insecurity and corruption in the judicial system that is hitting the right.

More than 15 million people will be called to the polls on 26 and 27 October to choose mayors, councilors, governors and regional councilors, in a mandatory contest that could be a thermometer for the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2025.

Although the campaign officially began on 28 August, it is in October that it began to gain some momentum, with debates on television, the still scarce deployment in the streets and squares, and the promotion of candidates on social networks.

Even so, the most recent survey by the firm Plaza Pública Cadem reveals that 42 per cent of citizens say they have little or no interest in the race, compared to 36 per cent who are enthusiastic about the process.

The scenario has been permeated by the Audios case, a corruption case involving the influential criminal lawyer Luis Hermosilla, charged with money laundering, bribery and tax fraud, which has implicated judges, prosecutors and members of the political elite.

The scandal has led to the suspension of Supreme Court Justice Ángela Vivanco, who is facing constitutional charges; several businessmen have been remanded in custody and former public officials are being investigated.

In one of the aspects of this case, the prosecutor’s office will summon Andrés Chadwick, a member of the right-wing Independent Democratic Union (UDI), former interior minister during the second government of Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022), to testify as a defendant.

Analysts believe that the so-called Hermosilla case could have electoral consequences for the conservative coalition Chile Vamos, which includes the UDI, Renovación Nacional and Evópoli.

Another issue affecting the process is the increasing climate of insecurity, the main concern of Chileans, more than economic or health problems.

This year alone, more than 670 people have been murdered here, in addition to high-impact incidents that have cost the lives of children and adolescents.

Despite the Streets without Violence plan, the reinforcement of police forces and other measures adopted by the government, assaults and shootings are on the rise, a phenomenon that is not new and which the authorities attribute above all to drug trafficking and organized crime.

With less than a month to go before the elections, the issue of insecurity is being used by the right and the ultra-right to divert the media spotlight from the repercussions of the corruption scandals.