By Rodolfo Varela
On November 16, Chile will once again head to the polls for a presidential election. Once again, the people will be called upon to decide their future. But beyond the campaigns, hollow speeches, and catchy slogans, one question echoes loudly in the hearts of many: Should we keep trusting those who have failed us time and again?
In the primary elections of the pro-government coalition "Unity for Chile," Jeannette Jara — a member of the Communist Party — emerged victorious over other candidates such as Carolina Tohá (PPD), Gonzalo Winter (Frente Amplio), and Jaime Mulet (FRVS). The unified primary appeared to be a gesture of cohesion, but it also highlighted the fractures within a left that, despite being in power under President Gabriel Boric, has failed to deliver on the most pressing demands of the Chilean people: justice, dignity, healthcare, education, and meaningful reparations for political prisoners, exonerated workers, torture survivors, and the families of the disappeared.
Because let’s be clear: the Concertación coalition — during its years in democratic power — did not do enough to repay Chile’s moral debt to the victims of the dictatorship. Today, the parties that once made up or stemmed from that coalition — like “Amarillos por Chile” or “Demócratas” — are back on the scene with new names but the same complicit silence toward the country’s unresolved wounds.
On the other side, the traditional right and the far-right — led by Evelyn Matthei and José Antonio Kast — offer no hope for the historically marginalized. They didn’t care before, and they won’t care now. Their project is crystal clear: to maintain a neoliberal system that benefits the elite, criminalizes protest, privatizes basic rights, and looks nostalgically at a dictatorship that left behind thousands of dead, tortured, and disappeared. The working class, pensioners, Indigenous peoples, women, students, migrants — none of them are included in their vision of Chile.
Meanwhile, over 200 independent hopefuls are trying to gather the 35,000 signatures required by the Electoral Service (Servel) to legalize their candidacies. Among them are familiar names like Marco Enríquez-Ominami, Eduardo Artés, Tomás Jocelyn-Holt, and media figures like Harold Mayne-Nicholls, far-right YouTuber Pedro Pool, and tarot reader Zita Pessagno. A mix that reflects both the growing despair and the lingering desire for a different, more inclusive Chile — even if that hope still feels distant.
Today, the Chilean people stand at yet another crossroads. This is not just about electing a new president. It’s about refusing to be deceived again. It’s about raising the voice of the voiceless, demanding truth, justice, and real reparations for the victims of the dictatorship. It’s about rejecting the manipulation of those who once held power and never delivered.
The people are still waiting. We do not forget. We do not forgive abandonment. And so we say:
Enough with empty promises! Enough with backroom deals! The people demand dignity, memory, and a future!
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