Communist Jeannette Jara Wins Primary in Chile
She will be the Left’s presidential candidate in November
President Gabriel Boric’s former labor minister has had to publicly distance herself from Cuba and Venezuela.
By Maria M. Mur (EFE/14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – With more than 60% of the vote, communist Jeannette Jara, former Minister of Labor under Gabriel Boric, triumphed decisively in Sunday’s progressive primaries, becoming the left’s presidential candidate for the year-end elections.
Her charisma, her leadership at the Ministry, and the negotiating skills she demonstrated during the passage of key government legislation—such as pension reform—help explain her overwhelming victory in primaries marked by low voter turnout.
“I call on you not to let go of our hands as we confront the far right with the broadest possible political and social unity,” said Jara, who appeared alongside her main rival and former cabinet colleague, ex-Interior Minister Carolina Tohá.
“I firmly believe that differences within the left are not a problem—they are an opportunity,” added Jara, who represents the most hardline faction within Boric’s broad governing coalition.
The 51-year-old former minister will face off in the first round on November 16 against a strong right-wing field: Evelyn Matthei from Chile Vamos (traditional right), Jose Antonio Kast from the far-right Republican Party, and Johannes Kaiser from the also far-right Libertarian Party.
Jara’s victory is a historic moment for the Communist Party—it’s the first time a party member has become the presidential candidate of the entire left.
Born into a working-class family in the outskirts of Santiago, Jara is a lawyer and public administrator. She first entered government in 2016 when former President Michelle Bachelet appointed her Undersecretary of Social Welfare.
When Boric tapped her to lead the Ministry of Labor in 2022, she was virtually unknown. But her popularity rose as laws under her ministry were passed, including raising the minimum wage and reducing the workweek to 40 hours.
Her major achievement was pension reform, which passed after several concessions to the opposition.
Jara is seen as less dogmatic than the Communist Party leadership—she has distanced herself from the party on sensitive issues like support for Cuba and Venezuela—and as a more approachable politician, earning her comparisons to Bachelet.
“She has presented herself as a much more open and conciliatory figure than the communist stereotype,” said Claudia Heiss of the University of Chile in comments to EFE. “She’s even said she might leave the party and has shown a strong willingness to grow toward the center.”
The campaign initially favored Toha, but over time Jara gained ground—though no poll predicted such a decisive win.
Her landslide is another blow to Chile’s traditional social democracy, which governed for two decades after the dictatorship but has been in decline for years.
In 2021, social democracy lost its leadership of the left when, for the first time, it was overtaken in the first round of the presidential election by Boric’s Broad Front—a younger, more modern left.
“The center-left has lost touch with the public. It’s no longer enough to invoke the successful past of the Concertación governments (1990–2010). It doesn’t seem to have answers that meet today’s public concerns,” said Rodrigo Perez-Arce from the Universidad del Desarrollo.
The primaries also dealt a blow to the Broad Front, as its candidate, deputy Gonzalo Winter, finished third (9%), followed by deputy Jaime Mulet of the Social Green Regionalist Federation (2.7%).
“We will work loyally so that this candidacy offers the country the best possible project to compete against the right,” said Toha, who—like the other three losing candidates—accepted the results and pledged full support to Jara.
According to political scientist Julieta Suárez-Cao of the Pontificia Universidad Católica, Jara’s greatest challenge will be “trying to control the agenda and the debate to prevent the first round from becoming, as the right will try to make it, a plebiscite for or against communism.”
Maintaining left-wing unity, expanding toward the center, and building a program with convincing proposals on the economy and security—top public concerns—will be among Jara’s key challenges.
Pérez-Arce, for his part, identified three obstacles: “swimming against the low electoral popularity of the left,” “unifying and persuading a coalition that is fracturing and from which many want to distance themselves,” and “easing public fears about a Communist Party that, despite everything, continues to take a hardline stance on authoritarian regimes in Latin America.”
Besides Jara, President Boric also issued a call for unity, writing on X that Chileans must work together “to summon the majority of our compatriots to continue building a fairer, safer, and happier country.”
“What lies ahead won’t be easy,” Boric concluded, “but Jeannette knows all about tough battles.”
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.