Out From the Shadow of Pinochet: A Guide to Chile's Election

Chileans are spoiled for choice in November’s presidential election, with candidates ranging from an ultraconservative, via a billionaire and a TV pundit, to an alliance that stands to the left of the Communist Party. The upshot is an election that is harder to call than almost any since the return of democracy 27 years ago.

The fragmentation of politics reflects the breakdown of the economic consensus in South America’s wealthiest nation. The rapid growth of the past quarter-century has ended and politicians are divided over how to restore the economy’s former dynamism. Some argue that the neoliberal economic model imposed by former dictator Augusto Pinochet is exhausted and what Chile needs now is greater equality and more state intervention to expand beyond raw materials. Others argue the country has already gone too far in its pursuit of equality and the incoming government must do more to promote free markets.