Juan Pablo Spinetto, Columnist

Chile’s Right Turn Matters Less Than Its Democratic Stability

November 17, 2025 at 12:30 PM UTC

JP Spinetto is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin American business, economic affairs and politics. He was previously Bloomberg News’ managing editor for economics and government in the region.

Kast and Jara advance, but the real winner is institutional stability.
Photographer: Raul Bravo, Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images

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Chile’s presidential runoff next month is already being cast as a clash of extremes: on one side, Jeannette Jara, the leftist who joined the Communist Party at 14; on the other, José Antonio Kast, the ultraconservative, pro-life Catholic who promises a hard line against immigrants.

Fierce, right? From afar, it looks like just another manifestation of the toxic polarization gripping global politics. Except it isn’t.