The youth of Chile remember

Text: Pele Kalanje

As the parliamentary and presidential elections are approaching, tensions with the past and present can’t go unnoticed. What is the role of the Chilean youth in all of this?

La juventud tiene memoría, “The youth remember”, reads a poster plastered to the wall of our student cafeteria. It’s a sunny October afternoon in 2025, in the southern suburb of San Joaquín, Santiago. The main campus of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, one of the biggest universities on the continent, is as lively as one might expect. Having spent the last four months here on exchange, I’ve come to see the campus as one of my favourite spots in Santiago. Much of its charm comes from the people who bring it to life; the campus, after all, is a reflection of its students. Any available area, be it a staircase or a patch of open grass, is filled by a group of friends engaging in conversations varying from lighthearted chatter to fiery debate. Yet, as November 16th draws nearer, one can pick up on the very real sense of nervous anticipation slowly creeping up on the students. After all, 1973 wasn’t long ago, 2019 even less so – and the youth remember.

The presidential and parliamentary elections on the 16th of November 2025 are massively important for anyone even slightly interested in the political development of the country. Their significance has only grown since the approval of Constitutional Amendment No. 21,524 which makes voting compulsory for all Chilean citizens over 18 residing in Chile. Those who do not vote face a fine, though the precise amount remains unclear – a measure likely to bring even the most neutral citizens to the polls. If the Chilean way of holding elections wasn’t already intriguing enough, the country remains one of the few where foreign residents also hold the right to vote in both presidential and parliamentary elections. 

The two biggest names of the upcoming presidential election represent two distinct backgrounds and two opposing sides of the political spectrum. One of them is the former labour minister Jeannette Jara, 51, of the Communist Party of Chile, who made headlines in late June, when she won  over 60 percent of the votes in the Chilean primaries, securing her spot as the candidate for the left-wing coalition. Born into a working-class family in Conchalí, Santiago, Jara rose through the ranks as a union leader and politician – now highlighting her humble beginnings to set herself apart in the political landscape many Chileans see as riddled with elitism. 

In Chile, presidential primaries remain optional, meaning that parties can choose to join a coalition and hold a primary amongst candidates from each of the member parties. Parties also hold the option of choosing a candidate through an internal process and then presenting them in the first round of the elections. In this year’s election, Jara’s coalition ended up being the only one to register for the primaries, meaning that in November she will contest a number of candidates from various political parties, most of whom represent the Chilean center-right and far-right. 

Out of the many names Jara will be going up against, the clear frontrunner of the pack is José Antonio Kast, the candidate for Partido Republicano, an ultraright party he founded in 2019. Kast is a well-known figure in Chilean politics, as the 59-year-old is now running for president for the third time – having lost before in 2017, when he ran as an independent, and again in 2021, when he made it past the first round but eventually lost to the current president, Gabriel Boric. Kast is now running on a platform of anti-immigration and strict national security, focusing much of his campaign on violence and rising crime in Chile, all the while citing figures such as El Salvador’s president and self-proclaimed “world’s coolest dictator” Nayib Bukele as inspirations. Ideologically, Kast clashes with Jara on practically every major issue, ranging from their stances on the economy to public security and, perhaps most importantly, Chilean political history. 

History takes center stage

The 11th of September 1973 remains perhaps the most recognizable date in Chilean history, marking the coup d’état and the beginning of General Augusto Pinochet’s nearly seventeen-year dictatorship. The effect of the dictatorship on all facets of Chilean life cannot be understated: not only did it transform Chilean politics, the economy and national sentiment, but also it left unimaginable trauma to the countless families that suffered under Pinochet’s harsh rule. 

25 years later, views on the dictatorship aren’t as uniform as one might expect. The Chilean public remains divided as to whether the dictatorship should be viewed as a dark period of unwarranted cruelty or instead a necessary period of transformation during which the authoritarian regime simply took harsh yet much-needed measures to ensure that Chile’s economy be successfully reconstructed. Each year on September 11th, thousands of Chileans standing on both sides of the feud take to the streets and protest in demonstrations. In 2023, approximately 5000 Chileans marched through Santiago to mark the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état.

No matter the topic, history seems to be ever-present in contemporary Chilean politics. Whilst electoral candidates make promises and express differing views on present day politics, it is still history that takes center stage and triumphs over the present and the future. Reminders of the past and its tremendous impact are found everywhere in day-to-day Chilean life, whether it be unresolved tensions at family dinner, a provocative street mural or an inconspicuous plaque on a building once used as a torture chamber. Most Chileans find themselves intertwined with their complicated national past, be it through first hand experiences or through a family member that was either part of the dictatorial regime or suffered under it. And the same can be said to an even greater extent for mainstream political figures. 

Figures such as far-right José Antonio Kast don’t simply talk about the past, they played a formative part in it. Kast himself is brother to Miguel Kast Rist, a member of the infamous group of Chilean economists known as the “Chicago Boys”, who were behind a number of economic reforms implemented under Pinochet’s regime after being educated in the United States under the teachings of neoliberal academics Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger. His familial ties to authoritarianism do not end with his brother, though, as an investigation conducted by Associated Press in 2021 revealed that Kast’s parents, who emigrated from Germany to Chile in 1950, were both members of the Nazi party. 

The hot topic issues of this year’s election include economic stagnation, migration, unemployment and, of course, the familiar dynamic of a left-wing candidate facing off against a resurgent far-right. While these themes are hardly unforeseen in today’s global political landscape, Chile’s case stands out for a different reason. Here, history itself holds particular significance. Each candidate brings their own understanding of it, their own relationship to it, and their own way of utilizing it to shape their campaign. For many Chileans, these connections to the past hold matter just as much as any prospective plan or election promise that each candidate may present. Nowhere is this more evident than in debates revolving around the country’s constitution. 

The Chilean constitution remains one of the most fiercely debated topics in Chilean society. The current constitution dates back to the Pinochet era, 1980 to be exact, and was the end result of a process which far lacked democratic legitimacy. Many feel that the current constitution reflects the values of the authoritarian era and is unfit for modern Chile. In recent years, a number of drafts for renewing the constitution have been proposed and then swiftly rejected by the Chilean public in popular votes. Despite a new constitution being one of current president Boric’s most central election promises, the president has failed to make it a reality. The most recent attempt was on the 17th of December 2023, when the proposed constitution was rejected by a 12-point margin with 56% of the electorate voting against it. 

To this day, the constitution divides the voting public and the candidates alike. Traditionally, left leaning figures have stood for constitutional change whilst right-wing ones have stood firm in defense of the current one. However, the current president’s Boric’s unsuccessful attempts may have changed the debate around the constitution, as more recently figures such as left-wing candidate Jara have avoided promises to create a new constitution, perhaps attempting to appeal to a wider voter base. 

No smoking sign modified by students on Sept 11th. Reads “Campus free of negationism. Forgetting not allowed”.

The youth remember

In October 2019, massive protests and violence swept the streets of Santiago in a months-long social outbreak named “Estallido Social” (social unrest). The protesters attacked the Pinochet regime’s legacy head on, outright rejecting the socio-economic model left by the authoritarian regime. Chileans marching the streets demanded a significant change in the socio-economic outlook of the country, fueled by disappointment at the fact that 30 years after the Pinochet era, the Chilean economic system remained unchanged. Yet, the movement wasn’t spearheaded by those who had spent decades of their adult lives desperately yearning for significant social change, nor by those who lived  to witness Pinochet’s transformation of Chile firsthand. The first to act – students who seized metro stations across Santiago and sparked the largest wave of protests in the post-Pinochet era – were far too young to have witnessed any of it. And yet, somehow, they carried the memory of that history as if they had lived it themselves. 

As November 16th draws nearer, I’ve tried my best to pick the brains of locals better versed in Chilean politics than I am, in hopes of finding some consensus about what might occur on election day. Yet, hard as I’ve tried, no one has been able to offer me a clear prediction – and I can hardly blame them. Most Chileans would agree that the upcoming elections are unique in a number of ways. Not only will the results surely be impacted by obligatory voting, but electoral candidates seem to have attempted to sideline previously central topics such as the constitution in order to make space for matters such as immigration and national security. What is certain, however, is that every vote will carry weight under the new voting rules. Yet, among those headed to polling stations on November 16th, one group in particular might just hold the power to tip the scales.

Although youth turnout has historically lagged behind that of older generations, the new election rules are likely to encourage previously disengaged voters to head to the polls. While immigration and national security have clearly gained much attention this election cycle, moving on from the past is not as simple as shifting the focus of political debate. Pinochet’s legacy remains deeply embedded in Chilean society, and if the Estallido Social of 2019 showed us anything, it’s that the Chilean youth are especially unwilling to overlook it – from its economic model to the institutions it left behind. For them, history cannot simply be swept under the rug in place of issues that candidates maintain are “more urgent.” The youth demand answers, and for many of them, the name written on the ballot on November 16th will not be based on today’s headline issues, but on the candidates’ addressal of Chile’s unresolved past.

Beyond slang terms and colourful swear words, perhaps the most important lesson that I’ve learnt over the months that I’ve spent in Santiago is that understanding  and appreciating history doesn’t have to be a custom limited to those old enough to have seen it unfold with their own eyes. The Chilean youth live and embrace the country’ s history with just as much passion as the generations that preceded them. Be it through stories passed down from parents and grandparents before them, or from references heard and seen in pop culture, the youth seemingly hold a clear understanding of just how significant of an impact the events of the past have had on their present day reality. 

Whatever the result of the upcoming elections may be, the voice of the Chilean youth will certainly be heard and seen – be it at the polling stations, universities or on the streets. Memory may be a fragile thing, yet the Chilean youth have demonstrated time and time again their absolute refusal to let it fade away. 

Main picture: Iida Patjas
Other pictures: Pele Kalanje
Text editing: Vilma Tyrylahti

The sources of the main picture:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/equipo_kast/54857433568/in/photostream/ (creator: Equipo Kast © 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/equipo_kast/54857182561/in/photostream/ (creator: Equipo Kast © 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/secretaria_general_de_gobierno/52354955101/in/photostream/ (creator: Vocería de Gobierno © 2022, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)
No warranties are given. Images combined into a single main image; cropping and exposure adjusted.