Without stepping on Chilean territory, accused of not paying alimony to his children and an electoral campaign made only on social networks, the economist Franco Parisi He came third in the presidential election and today has one of the main keys to the next ballot in Chile.
With almost 900,000 votes obtained and without moving from Alabama, southern United States, where he lives and has remained, Parisi keep influencing ahead of the second round on December 19.
A campaign where both the leftist Gabriel Boric and the far-right candidate, José Antonio Kast, pay special attention to how to seduce those fuzzy voters, especially from the province, who gave themselves up to his liberal and anti-system discourse.
“His voters are going to be key in the ballot”Political analyst at the University of Talca, Mauricio Morales, told AFP.
From the YouTube program “Bad Boys”, where he participates with three other internet influencers, Parisi articulated the campaign with which obtained 12.8% of the votes and managed to displace to fourth and fifth place the candidates representing the traditional political coalitions of the center-left and center-right that governed Chile after the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990).
Franco Parisi’s Instagram page on a woman’s cell phone in Santiago. AFP photo
The phenomenon
“The real phenomenon was that the parties and traditional coalitions collapsed with their respective presidential candidates, finishing in fourth and fifth place. That is the great surprise and the phenomenon to study, “adds Morales, detailing that Parisi’s vote is similar to that of his previous electoral foray, in 2013.
Kast, a 55-year-old lawyer, attended Parisi’s virtual show on Sunday. Without questioning neither his absence in the country nor the judicial mess for the non-payment of alimony for his children, he presented his campaign proposals in almost two hours.
Boric, a 35-year-old deputy, representative of the Approve Dignity coalition – which brings together the Communist Party and the Broad Front – would participate in the program on Friday, as announced by his command, although later the candidate He said he was “evaluating” it.
Several analysts have recommended Boric -who leads the polls- not attend, especially due to the impact on the vote of women, with a significant electoral weight in the ballot.
With populist promises, the 54-year-old Parisi declares himself alienated from both the left and the right and rant against traditional politics.
His pragmatic speech especially in young men, who live in the north of Chile, where there is a large labor force of copper miners, and in cities where he promised to “put order” to the migratory crisis caused by the arrival mainly of Venezuelan citizens.
The presidential candidate for the I Approve Dignity coalition, Gabriel Boric. Photo EFE
Voter profile
In Chile, 84% of men separated of their partners have debts in the payment of alimony to their children like the one that Parisi maintains, according to figures from the Judicial Power.
The former candidate said he could not reach Chile because a PCR test gave an “inconclusive” result and later argued that he had contracted coronavirus. But are their problems with the Chilean justice, that he would not let him leave the country, which would be behind this absence.
His electoral campaign was then carried out completely digitally.l. He did not attend any debate; he did not go “door to door” or participate in rallies. Nor did he hang banners or posters in the streets.
With broad internet penetration in the country and an improved digital culture after almost two years of the pandemic, the success of your virtual campaign it does not surprise the experts, however.
The far-right presidential candidate in Chile, José Antonio Kast with the Venezuelan opposition Leopoldo López. Photo EFE
“Chile has a digital culture that is transversal in socioeconomic terms, that is why it is not surprising what happens with Parisi, “Cristian Leporati, professor of advertising at the University of Diego Portales, told AFP.
Being a markedly “individualistic” society, political campaigns on the internet work very well in Chile, unlike countries where there is a more community identity, adds the expert.
“If we hadn’t had a pandemic perhaps it would not have been so easy for Parisi, “says Leporati.
With the newly created “People’s Party”, the economist obtained in November six seats in Congress, a feat that makes this political organization the most successful in the recent history of the country.
But it is difficult to foreshadow the inclination of his voters. With a voluntary vote and several surprises in recent elections, analyst Axel Callís recalls that in Chile “the voters have no owners for a long time”.
AFP Agency
PB
.