Chile's Election: Pinochetismo vs. the people

The "Bolsonaro of Chile" wants to revive the legacy of Augusto Pinochet. The people of Chile are asking for your solidarity in their fight to stop him.

Photo: Susana Hidalgo, Twitter.

Chile stands at a crossroads ahead of presidential elections on 19 December.

One direction is set by its citizens, who voted overwhelmingly to replace the old constitution that was written under dictator Augusto Pinochet with a new one that guarantees rights to housing, health, education, gender equality, and Indigenous recognition.

The other direction is set by presidential candidate José Antonio Kast, the "Bolsonaro of Chile." Kast promises to crush the new Constitutional Convention, eliminate the Ministry of Women, introduce a Chilean "ICE" to detain migrants, and pardon the torturers of the military dictatorship. "If Pinochet were alive, he would vote for me," Kast has said.

Now, the people of Chile are calling on the international community to help defend their democracy ahead of the presidential elections on 19 December.

That is why parliamentarians and public figures from around the world — including Rashida Tlaib and Noam Chomsky in the United States, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in the United Kingdom, Niki Ashton and Naomi Klein in Canada, Ada Colau and Gerardo Pisarello in Spain — are taking a stand.

"Foreign governments played a sordid role in financing, facilitating, and legitimating Pinochet's rise and rule. We, parliamentarians and public figures from around the world, will not repeat their mistake," they write.

Join them now — and stand with the people of Chile at this critical hour.