Follow LIVE the last presidential debate between Kast and Boric before the second round in Chile

Less than a week before the second presidential round in Chile, the far right Jose Antonio Kast and the leftist Gabriel Boric They will be measured this Monday in the last debate organized by the National Television Association (Anatel), to try to convince the electorate in one of the most polarized campaigns in recent years in the South American country.

The debate of Anatel It will start at 8 pm local time and can be followed through the live streaming signal of TVN, Mega, CHV and Channel 13. The last meeting between Kast and Boric will have eight thematic segments, where two topics of politics, two on economics and four social issues.

LOOK: Second round in Chile: “This is the most polarized election since Allende won” | Interview

The previous presidential debate on Friday it was marked by the moderation in the programmatic proposals and the attempts to attract the voters of the center on the part of the two contenders.

LOOK: Investigation reveals that the father of Chilean candidate José Antonio Kast was a member of the Nazi party

Both accentuated the changes that their government programs have undergone since the first round, in which, in an unprecedented way, they were imposed on the great candidates of the center-right and center-left whose coalitions had been sharing power for 30 years.

“We have a divided Parliament and a difficult economic situation so we have to contribute to bring those who were not divided at the beginning”, he pointed Boric, leader of the Broad Front – coalition that is presented in alliance with the Communist Party.

• José Antonio Kast seeks to distance himself from the Nazi shadow of his father: “My whole family hates them”
• Far-rightist Kast redesigns his program to attract voters from the center in Chile
• Chile Elections 2021: What must Kast and Boric do to win the presidency?

closet He spoke about drastic changes in social rights issues that had generated a lot of controversy: it retracted the elimination of the Ministry of Women and assured that it will not overthrow possible projects of free abortion.

José Antonio Kast. (MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP). (MARTIN BERNETTI /)

“I am a deeply democratic person and if Congress passes a law, I will not work to remove it”, He said.

He also downplayed his desire to withdraw Chile of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights of the UN, something that he had previously defended fervently and that he now assured that “is being evaluated.”

LOOKING FOR ADHERENTS IN THE CENTER

With one far-right candidate and one from a more pronounced left-wing coalition than the traditional one,

LOOK: Elections: Is Latin America Turning Left Again?

Neither of them achieved more than 30% support in the first round, so the campaign has been based on trying to expand its supporter base.

In this last month, Boric He has changed his point of view on some of his flagship ideas such as pardoning protesters detained during the 2019 social crisis, something he is now partially opposed to.

His tone in condemning the riots during the protests was also different: “I firmly believe that violence is not the way, the violence of those who believe that burning churches or carrying out attacks are going to achieve something”, He said.

Gabriel Boric speaks during a rally in Santiago on December 11, 2021. (JAVIER TORRES / AFP).

Jaime Abedrapo, director of the School of Government of the University of San Sebastián, told Efe that “They both changed their discursive axes and their tones because they know that the moderates and independents will make a difference.”

added.

GRADUALITY IN ECONOMIC CHANGES

In economic matters, closet He specified that he reduced the growth goal from a maximum of 7% to 4%, and that the tax reduction of 10 percentage points to large companies that he initially promised will be done in a “slow” manner.

“We continue to defend a tax cut and we will make reasonable progress, but we will not be able to do it all at once”, He justified.

In this sense, Boric, also promised “gradualism” in the increase in the proposed collection, of 8 percentage points of GDP in eight years, raising taxes on the richest and avoiding evasion.

MIGRATION AND MILITARIZATION OF THE SOUTH

The candidates did not give their arm to twist in some respects.

“closet reinforced his idea of ​​digging an anti-immigration ditch and increasing presidential powers ”, Claudia Heiss, head of the Political Science career at the University of Chile, told Efe.

BoricMeanwhile, he remained adamant with his rejection of the militarization of the south where there is a conflict between indigenous people and forestry companies with frequent shootings and fires.

In the final part of the debate, there was a tense personal confrontation between the two, as a result of the complaint of alleged harassment that a woman carried out against Boric about the closet He questioned him and that led to an exchange of words that motivated the moderators to turn off the microphones.

Until now, all the major opposition parties in Chile (center and left) have supported the candidate of the Frente Amplio, which has a program that points to a welfare state similar to the European one, with a feminist and environmentalist accent.

While, closet, in favor of defending the current model, based on the neoliberalism installed during the military dictatorship (1973-1990), he won the support of the four parties of the ruling coalition.

Despite these great differences, the balance between conservative and progressive forces in the next Congress – elected on November 21 – suggests that there will be no major polarizations.

___________________________________

• Next pandemic could be “worse or deadlier,” warns Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine creator
• How the new Super Green Pass complicates social life for the unvaccinated in Italy
• Flight MH370: can one of the great mysteries of aviation finally be solved?
• Plumber finds money hidden in the wall of a megachurch (and could have solved a mysterious robbery from 2014)
• They find dead a young Brazilian who was missing and was forced to dig her own grave
• US Congressman Releases Christmas Family Photo With Guns, Days After School Shooting

.