The electoral triumph of the far right, embodied in the figure of Kast, is not a simple or mere contingency, but the inevitable historical consequence of the restoration process promoted after the Popular Revolt and led by practically the entire bloc of parties in power and backed by the elites and large economic groups that dominate these territories. This result confirms our thesis: the Boric government was never an alternative for change or transformation, nor was it a dam against the advance of the far right or fascistic forces; quite the contrary.
The “left” administration not only abandoned the agenda for change, but moved in the opposite direction. In fact, the government devoted itself to social demobilization, shielding and consolidating the economic model in an attempt to please the owners of this country and their political agents.
The shattered hopes of the working class—a de-ideologized (but not depoliticized) voting public that was deeply committed to supporting any initiative that promised to immediately improve their material living conditions—ended up strengthening the most populist and radical options on the right. The vacuum, despair, and frustration generated by the “betrayal” of the institutional left and its renunciation of the demands of the Revolt were effectively capitalized on by the reaction.
This failure, forged in the obvious evolution of Boric’s government, is currently affecting the entire so-called “progressive” bloc and the traditional left across the board. But we must be clear: for the people as a whole, the defeat and the perception of programmatic and practical “betrayal” does not distinguish flags as clearly as we would like. And we must also recognize that, broadly speaking as a revolutionary camp, we have not been able to substantially capitalize on the discontent and class rage in the face of this obvious grievance.
Given this, the challenge ahead of us is enormously important and complex: first, it means fighting against the deep disappointment and frustration that prevails at the popular grassroots level among the working class; second, it means confronting a right wing that has been greatly strengthened and emboldened by the election results to go on the offensive on multiple fronts; and third, it means resisting the political advance that the “progressive bloc” will attempt to regain the ground it has lost among the people, the working class, and social and popular movements. All this will take place amid the crisis of credibility and legitimacy of the party system, the elites, and even the model itself—the very crisis that sparked the outbreak and the revolt.
The Boric Legacy: Demobilization, Protecting Neoliberalism, and Paving the Way to Victory for Kast and the New Populist and Radical Right