Aldo Anfossi
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, November 25, 2024, p. 23
Santiago. Yesterday Chile held the second round of the election of regional governors, in which the center-left won in six of the 11 in dispute and significantly in two of the three most important by number of inhabitants: Santiago and Valparaíso.
If we add to this the results of the first round a month ago, of the 16 regions of the country, 10 remain under the control of the ruling party, where 70 percent of the country’s 19 million inhabitants live.
The independent Claudio Orrego, supported by the ruling party and running for re-election in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, with 7.5 million inhabitants in 52 municipalities, obtained 55 percent of the votes, more than 2 million 500 thousand votes, defeating the opponent Francisco Orrego, television commentator belonging to the populist right, characterized by his verbal aggressiveness and the disqualification of the opponent, who with 45 percent obtained 2 million voters.
Today moderation has won over polarization, cooperation over confrontation and dialogue over insults. We have to learn to work togethersaid Orrego when celebrating his victory, a former member of the decadent Christian Democratic Party, once the largest in Chile, which he resigned two years ago due to internal decomposition.
The good result places the re-elected governor as a potential presidential candidate for the November 2025 race, given the absence and/or poor evaluation of those who could represent the center-left.
In Valparaíso, the second most populous region with 2 million residents, Governor Rodrigo Mundaca, an environmental activist supported by the government’s Frente Amplio and multiple citizen organizations, managed to be reelected with 62.5 percent of the votes, winning in the 32 municipalities of the region. region, defeating María José Hoffman, of the right-wing Independent Democratic Union.
In contrast, the right celebrated in the Biobío region, where the independent Sergio Giacaman, joined by the Chile Vamos coalition, swept with more than 70 percent of the votes, defeating the also independent leftist Alejandro Navarro, former socialist militant, fervent supporter of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, something that worked against him, according to all analyses.
When commenting on the outcome of the day on national television, President Gabriel Boric stated: Voters have supported leaders that are capable of offering concrete answers to their problems, based on experience and work on the ground.. He added that They won unity, agreements and dialogue as a way to move forward, and lost aggressiveness, polarization and hate speech.
He highlighted that the support for progressive candidates It shows us that there is a proven ability that when we act together it is possible to create bigger projects for our country and that make sense to the people..
