How Chile’s Shifting Politics Baffled Markets
- The decline of established political parties changes calculus
- Centrist Christian Democrats have seen share of vote collapse
Members of the media take photographs of presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera as he stands with supporters during a campaign rally in Santiago, Chile.
Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
For quarter of a century in Chile the same political coalitions proposed the same policies and the markets looked on with indifference. Not any longer.
Volatility in Chilean assets is the highest in five years as the country prepares for a second round of elections this weekend -- the first time since the return of democracy in 1990 that politics has had such an impact on markets. In Sunday’s vote, billionaire and one-time president Sebastian Pinera is facing off against Alejandro Guillier, a former television personality whose coalition includes parties from the center to the hard left.