26/06/2013
Fundación para el Progreso
The campaign for the upcoming Chilean presidential election is taking an alarming direction. Michelle Bachelet, who leads the opinion polls by far, is taking a dangerous turn toward Chavism which could end up straining Chilean society in a way not seen in decades.
After a time of silence and ambiguity, Bachelet has plunged into the search for a "new majority" capable of getting the support of the social and student radical movements which dramatically burst onto the Chilean scene in 2011.These movements feature an absolute opposition to the successful development model followed by Chile during the last thirty years and a questioning of the institutional ensemble which currently steers the country. That is why the central slogans of these movements are "no to-profit" and "constituent assembly". Or, in short, a total recasting of Chilean society under a strong statist aegis.
Until recently, few thought Bachelet would really follow this maximalist rhetoric, but not anymore. In every issue that arises, the official candidate of the Socialist and Communist parties always sets forth the same proposal: more government and more taxes. She has already posed to eradicate profit from the entire education system, which would involve eliminating Chile's current mixed system. But now the door is open to question any public-private partnership that involves business activities. And promises tax hikes to "companies" for more than eight billion dollars to expand government handouts ("social rights").
This, however, is not the most serious matter. Her major promise now is a new Constitution, which, under the prevailing conditions, is impossible to achieve without illegally calling a referendum on a constituent assembly. Bachelet has been clear when saying "I will not close the door to any option," and even more explicit was her legal adviser, Fernando Atria, when he said that "the Chilean constitutional issue is something that will be resolved by hook or by crook".
Thus opens the black hole of Chavism in the country where you could least imagine it. They are very bad news indeed not only for Chile but for the whole of Latin America.