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Just hours before the presidential elections in Chile, the Cuban-American congresswoman María Elvira Salazar delivered a strong message against the communist candidate Jeannette Jara, after she failed to acknowledge the Cuban regime as a dictatorship and attributed its problems to hurricanes and the American embargo.
“Jeannette Jara says that Cuba is ‘another democracy,’ even acknowledging censorship, a single party, and zero freedoms,” wrote Salazar. “That is not ignorance: it is an open defense of a criminal dictatorship that has been oppressing the Cuban people for 66 years.”
The Republican lawmaker stated that “Chile deserves a leader who is not afraid to condemn the murderous Cuban dictatorship” and expressed her support for the right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast, who is favored in the forecasts for the first round this Sunday.
Jara and Cuba: between denials, nuances, and setbacks
Jeannette Jara, former Minister of Labor in Gabriel Boric's government and presidential candidate for the Communist Party of Chile, has maintained a fluctuating relationship with the Cuban issue throughout her campaign.
In April, he asserted that in Cuba “there is no dictatorship” and that “each people defines its government,” while blaming the embargo for the humanitarian crisis and defending the regime as a “different” case compared to other countries cited for human rights violations.
Months later, he admitted that “clearly Cuba is not a democracy”, although he again avoided classifying the system as a dictatorship. His acknowledgment, however, sparked irony within the Chilean left itself, such as the phrase from Senator Juan Luis Castro, who said that Jara “has been de-communized”.
The candidate repeatedly insisted that Cubans must "decide for themselves" their political destiny, and in her most recent intervention she once again relied on the argument of the "blockade" and even mentioned hurricanes to justify the situation of poverty and lack of freedoms on the island.
Her evasions have sparked particular resentment among Cuban émigrés, who perceive this type of discourse as a painful minimization of the crisis their families are experiencing on the island.
Chile votes tomorrow: Kast arrives as the favorite
According to a recent analysis by El País, José Antonio Kast, who has the support of María Elvira, is the favorite in the prediction markets, with around a 70% chance of winning the presidency.
Although Jara was leading the polls ten days ago, forecasts indicate that his path towards a runoff would be uphill against any right-wing candidate.
According to the markets and the latest polls before the electoral ban, the most likely scenario is a runoff between Jara and Kast on December 14, where the far-right candidate would have an overwhelming advantage.
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