migration feeds polarization in the duel José Kast-Gabriel Boric

by time news

Chile has received hundreds of thousands of migrants in recent years, especially from Venezuela, Haiti, Peru and Colombia. Gabriel Boric and José Kast, the candidates for the second round of the presidential elections this Sunday, have very different proposals to face the phenomenon.

The Barrio Estación Central de Santiago has an air of little Caracas because there are numerous stores with Venezuelan products. On the sidewalk, with a ladle, Jessibel, a 19-year-old Venezuelan, serves “chicha”, a sweet drink.

“I worked very hard in Bogotá. I managed to gather enough money to buy the tickets and come (to Chile). I have a Colombian passport, my mother is Colombian. My father-in-law, who was already in Santiago, told me: ‘Come on, here is more opportunities, there is more work. ‘I have realized that here it is quiet. “

With his relative stability institutional and its economic dynamism, Chile attracted migrants from all over the continent. The foreign population went from 300,000 in 2012 to 1.5 million at the end of 2020. The government of Sebastian Piñera opened the doors of the country to Venezuelans for example, but closed them when the pandemic began.

Haitian neighborhood in Santiago de Chile. Photo: Bloomberg

On the northern border, where migrant camps are concentrated in a precarious situation, Xenophobic reactions have been recorded. In late September 2021, a migrant camp was attacked in Colchane, on the sidelines of a protest.

“Migration has changed. It has become more precarious. There has been a significant increase in income for the steps enabled. Last year there were around 16,900 while this year, in July, there were more than 20,000 “, explains Waleska Ureta, director of the NGO Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, the main organization that assists the migrant population in Chile.

One of the causes of this phenomenon has to do, according to Ureta, with the pandemic, since “the closure of the borders obviously means that people continue to travel anyway because crises are getting worse in their countries“.

Venezuelans walk to Iquique, Chile after crossing the border from Bolivia.  Photo: AFP

Venezuelans walk to Iquique, Chile after crossing the border from Bolivia. Photo: AFP

In an interview with RFI, Ureta also questions the policy of the outgoing government of Sebastián Piñera: “Chile has the legal and diplomatic instruments for a safe, orderly and regular migration, however they have been used little these last times “.

Candidates and migration

Faced with this situation, the far-right candidate, José Kast, has promised a “zero tolerance with illegal migration”. He also promises a “strong hand” with the creation of a “border ditch, the deployment of the military and penalizing NGOs that help migrants.

His rival, the leftist candidate Gabriel Boric insists rather on incentivize regular migration with work permits based on labor needs and also proposes coordination with neighboring countries for a better distribution of migration.

The candidates for the presidency of Chile, José Antonio Kast (left), and Gabriel Boric.  Photo: EFE

The candidates for the presidency of Chile, José Antonio Kast (left), and Gabriel Boric. Photo: EFE

The second round of the Chilean presidential election will take place on December 19, 2021. And polls anticipate a tight result.

Brazil-based pollster AtlasIntel keeps a daily analysis of Boric and Kast’s voting intentions.

According to this consultancy, although the leftist Gabriel Boric managed to distance himself from Kast by scoring up to six points in favor in the first week of the campaign, the Republican candidate could later traced that position and today it would be installed in the first place, with 40.9% of votes.

But his rival appears biting his heels with 39.1%, a difference that is not a difference.

With RFI information

ap

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