Jeannette Jara, the communist candidate, after winning the presidential primaries: ‘We will continue to be a free, independent, and sovereign country.’

After being elected with 60% (825,456 votes) in the Chilean left’s primaries held this Sunday, as the sole candidate of the ruling party to compete in the presidential elections on November 16 against an increasingly strong right, the representative of the Communist Party (PC), Jeannette Jara (51), delivered a 21-minute speech from her campaign headquarters located at 350 Ricardo Cumming street in downtown Santiago, attended by about 200 supporters. Emphasizing her program on social rights, economic growth, and security, she made her first promise: if she reaches La Moneda, she said she would push for an increase in the minimum wage—which she calls living wage—to 750,000 Chilean pesos (about 750 dollars).

“We have the opportunity to re-engage the citizens,” said Jara from the stage, alongside social democrat Carolina Tohá and Gonzalo Winter from the Broad Front (FA), who lost the election and whom she thanked for being there: “Without them, none of this would be possible, and it is with them that I want to continue along this new path together.” “I also salute and recognize the thousands of activists and volunteers who put in effort and passion to promote the proposals of the four candidates, in times of apathy; my recognition for their selfless work, which is rarely acknowledged by the citizens.” She added: “Differences are not a problem; they are an opportunity.”

Public administrator, lawyer, and master’s degree holder in public management, the former Minister of Labor under Gabriel Boric’s Government prevailed over the moderate forces of progressivism, represented by Tohá, Boric’s former Minister of the Interior, who obtained 28% (385,112 votes). The third place, with 9% (123,741), went to Winter, which implies a setback for the renewal of the Chilean president’s party. Jaime Mulet, from the Green Social Regionalist Federation (FRVS), which he founded in 2017, only reached 2.7% (37,647).

“From Conchalí to La Moneda”

Just as when she launched her campaign in April, under the statue of Salvador Allende (1970-1973) and in front of the presidential palace, on Sunday night, Jeannette Jara again appealed to her family history, as she grew up in the municipality of Conchalí, in the popular El Cortijo neighborhood. “From Conchalí to La Moneda,” Jara said while reading her speech, prepared in advance. Since early June, polls started giving her an advantage over Carolina Tohá.

“I stand before you with my heart of a woman (…) and as a Chilean. You already know, I was a girl who began my life in a humble family, living in Conchalí, a girl like many who today at five or ten years old, perhaps see me on television without knowing who I am or why I am here speaking with emotion overflowing from every inch of my skin. To that girl, I come to offer my heart today,” Jara stated while reading her prepared speech.

The speech had emotional parts, but she also referred to foreign policy without mentioning a specific country. During the campaign, Jara labeled Nicolás Maduro’s government as “an authoritarian regime”—a stance not shared by the Chilean PC—but stated that Cuba has “a different democratic system,” a phrase that complicated her during this entire period. However, on the eve of the election, pressured by the other candidates after participating in a debate, she admitted that Cuba “has internal problems” and that there are “violations of human rights,” referring to international reports on political prisoners.

Now officially a presidential candidate for her sector, she stated: “I do not want Chile subordinated to foreign governments or external models; therefore, I will maintain an international policy based on independence and multilateralism, defending human rights wherever they are violated, in line with our tradition as a state, promoting trade relations with other nations that benefit us as a country. We will continue to be a free, independent, and sovereign nation.”

Jeannette Jara also expressed that “the parties that make up our alliance are from the Chilean center-left, broad,” and especially saluted her own, the Communist Party, which nominated her. Although she did so late, as the favorite was Daniel Jadue, the former mayor of Recoleta, who was formalized for Case of Popular Pharmacies, making a second presidential candidacy for him unfeasible: he is under precautionary measures issued by the judiciary.

In a gesture towards the center-left, the former Minister of Labor under Boric said: “I cannot talk about former presidents without at least recognizing for a moment the tremendous legacy that former president Michelle Bachelet has given us. It was she who showed us women that nothing is impossible, with talent, effort, and passion. Thank you, Michelle, for paving the way.”

Jara’s victory, supported by Humanist Action and the Christian Left, has placed the Chilean PC at the forefront of Chilean politics. This is the first time since the return to democracy in 1990 that this party, which opposed the center-left governments of the transition, has installed a candidacy from its ranks, supported by the sector: by participating in the ruling party primaries, the parties of the Unity for Chile pact committed to support whoever won.

During her campaign, which began in early April, Jara tried to present herself as somewhat more moderate than the leadership of her party. She also did so communicatively, distancing herself from the flags and red color of the PC, in which she has been a member for 37 of her 51 years. On her popular social media, for example, she aimed at a youthful electorate, using pastel tones, especially pink, lilac, and sky blue, quite distinct from her party’s aesthetic.

The initial results of her victory were received with applause and slogans by her supporters, who gathered at the headquarters. “It feels powerful, Jara president,” they shouted with Chilean flags and others in pink and white bearing the candidate’s name. They also waved the red flags of the PC.

The former mayor of Santiago, Irascí Hassler, was one of the militants accompanying Jara. “It has been a process where the left, center-left, and progressivism have united and called the country democratically,” she said.

Once the results were known, around 7:20 PM, authorities from Gabriel Boric’s Government and PC members began to arrive, such as the Ministers of Education, Nicolás Cataldo; of Justice, Jaime Gajardo; and the Government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo.

Jeannette Jara became known in Chile as Boric’s Minister of Labor, a portfolio in which she was able to deliver good news: she pushed forward popular initiatives such as the 40-hour Law, which gradually reduces the maximum working hours per week, placing her in April 2023 as the third best-rated member of the Cabinet for the first time. From that position, she was able to announce only good news, such as the historic increase in the minimum wage and also pension reform, which brought her closer to the elderly, especially women.

Moving forward, her challenge will be against the Chilean right: the Republican José Antonio Kast, from the far-right and conservative, currently leading the polls, and the former Minister of President Sebastián Piñera and former mayor of Providencia, Evelyn Matthei, from the traditional right.