Brian Winter on ABC News Australia about the Factors Driving Chile's Presidential Election

Brian Winter, vice president of policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas and editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, was interviewed on the ABC News Australia's program Radio National Breakfast about Chiles's general election and the key factors that are driving a political shift in the country.

The South American country is headed to a presidential run-off between Jeannette Jara of the Communist Party and José Antonio Kast of the Republican Party, who seems to have more support. After having a young and progressive president for four years, Brian Winter identified key factors that have impacted this election, including a rise in crime and an increase of migrants:

"I think the main factor has been these concerns over crime and specifically organized crime. Chile used to be a country that was seen as something of an exception in Latin America, almost like an oasis when it came to security. [...] That's no longer as true as it used to be, and while Chile is still relatively safe compared to places like Mexico and Brazil, Chileans don't really see it that way. They're not comparing their lives to other countries. They're comparing it to the way it used to be at home," said Winter.

The expert pointed out that looking at the results from the first round, Kast seems to be headed for a win. Winter said that this is part of a "right-wing wave" and that it "replicates elections that we've seen elsewhere across Latin America this year."

Listen to the full episode.