The first round of voting in Chile’s general election in November saw the shocking rise of the far right and the collapse of the country’s new left. It’s a crushing but not total defeat for the movement helmed by President Gabriel Boric.

On November 16, Chile held its first general election since former student movement leader Gabriel Boric won the 2021 presidential runoffs as a candidate of a promising new left coalition. This time, however, a hard right emerged as the country’s dominant political force. It is now set to cruise to a second-round victory in December, which would drive a national realignment favoring reactionary parties.

These were also the first elections since voters overwhelming rejected a proposal to replace the 1980 constitution, a charter imposed under military rule

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