Security & Strategic Review - October 2025

With opinion surveys frequently showing violence and crime as among the top public concerns in Chile, it was unsurprising that discussion about security proposals dominated the first televised presidential debate on 10 September. The current frontrunners for the presidency, the far-right José Antonio Kast (Partido Republicano, PR) and the left-wing Jeannette Jara (Partido Comunista de Chile, PCCh), presented vastly different views on how to reduce crime and also clashed on issues such as migration, which right-wing candidates state is a factor that has driven up crime rates.