Silvio Canto points out that Chile goes right on the anniversary of Allende’s election.
With over 99 percent of results counted on Sunday night in local elections, the right-leaning Chile Vamos pact emerged as the big winner. It won slightly more votes than President Michelle Bachelet’s left-leaning Nueva Mayoria coalition, despite the left going into the vote with a massive incumbent advantage.
Conservative candidates won the majority of key swing cities, including central Santiago, a municipality inside the capital that is considered an electoral bellwether.
. . .
The results should benefit Pinera, a conservative politician and businessman who served as president from 2010 to 2014 between Bachelet’s two terms and is widely expected to seek a return to office.
WSJ:
The election is the latest setback for Latin America’s left following the end of high commodity prices that drove economic growth for a decade. In August, former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was ousted in an impeachment trial. Bolivian President Evo Morales’ proposal to change the constitution to run for another term was rejected in a referendum. Late last year, Argentine voters elected business-friendly President Mauricio Macri to overhaul his predecessor’s populist policies.
Or, as Bloomberg put it, Chile Voters Give Government a Bloody Nose and Peso a Boost
