By Alexander Villegas
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Saddled with an unpopular incumbent president, Chile’s left has made a bold choice to contest a resurgent right in November’s election – Jeanette Jara, a member of the Communist Party.
Jara, who was chosen by voters last month to be the candidate for the ruling Unity for Chile coalition, told Reuters she plans to win over skeptical voters by championing her track record of pushing through popular legislation on pensions and a reduced workweek under President Gabriel Boric.
But Jara still faces an uphill battle, encumbered by Boric’s unpopularity and her own party affiliation in a country that remains haunted by the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship that followed the 1973 coup against democratically elected Marxist president Salvador Allende.
“I think a lot of stories about the (Communist Party) stem from the Cold War and aren’t representative of the current situation,” Jara said in an interview. “In Chile we have a profound commitment to democracy and respect for institutional norms.”
Jara joined the party as a student leader in the 1990s and bounced between government and the private sector. Before serving as Boric’s labor minister, Jara worked in several ministries under center-left former president Michelle Bachelet.
In the primary vote, the charismatic 51-year-old Jara beat out three other candidates, including the presumptive favorite. She benefited from her popularity with younger voters and vows to build a broad coalition.
“We were looking at a situation where there was no competition or representative leadership to build a broad view under a single candidate and I thought I could contribute that,” Jara said.
Speaking to Reuters outside her small, plant-filled, yellow-brick home in Santiago on Friday, Jara said she is seeking to emphasize her pragmatism and dealmaking, noting her leadership role in legislation that reduced the workweek to 40 hours and reformed pensions.
“I didn’t do it alone, I did it hand-in-hand with workers and Chilean business owners to come to an agreement,” Jara said. “We have experience, we don’t have all the answers – nobody is infallible. But we have an ability to govern the country with the reforms it needs.”
Opinion polls show that Jara is likely to make it to a run-off, but most scenarios have her losing to a right-wing candidate in the second round. Chile’s presidential elections are slated for November 16 and will go to a run-off in December if no candidate receives a majority.
CAMPAIGN FOCUS
Jara said her campaign would have three pillars: economic growth, social issues and public safety. She said she wants to focus on matters that impact a majority of Chileans, such as job creation and recurring questions over income inequality, which triggered widespread protests in 2019.
“We can’t keep having two Chiles in the same country, one for well-off sectors and other for the vast majority,” she said.
She said she would also seek to address crime. While Chile remains one of the safest countries in Latin America, an influx of organized crime has led to a rising murder rate and hurt economic growth, with a recent spike in high-profile incidents like kidnappings and assassinations.
But she blasted hardline proposals like building border walls or placing landmines along the border that have been suggested by some right-wing candidates, who have blamed the rising crime on increasing numbers of migrants.
“While some shout louder or have ideas that aren’t grounded in reality, I trust citizens’ ability to evaluate proposals that could lead to solutions,” Jara said, adding that she would seek to increase funding for the police and introduce biometric screening at the border.
“None of this is an easy fix,” she said.
LITHIUM EXTRACTION
As the world’s largest copper producer and one of the largest lithium producers, Chile’s economy relies heavily on mining.
Boric has sought to boost lithium production with a joint venture between state-run copper giant Codelco and local lithium miner SQM. But the deal has faced opposition from right-wing candidates, Indigenous groups and Jara herself.
“I don’t agree with an agreement with (SQM) that would extend their lithium concession by 30 years,” Jara said, citing a campaign finance scandal in 2015 and SQM’s sale to Pinochet’s son-in-law during the dictatorship.
“If Boric closes the deal during his government I’ll respect it. If not, I’ll propose a national public company to operate alongside the private sector like Codelco with copper,” she said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened heavy tariffs on copper and Jara said in response that she would focus on strengthening trade with Latin America, China and others.
“We recently signed a trade agreement with India that I hope to expand and strengthen,” Jara said.
Relations with the United States would remain diplomatic and cordial under her government if she were elected, she said, adding: “We have to act prudently to safeguard our national interest.”
(Reporting by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Christian Plumb and Rosalba O’Brien)
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