Urgent letter to all democrats around the world

For decades our people have expressed their dreams and hopes on the streets and in the squares. Through creativity and hope, we have built the road to a new Chile, one that is more democratic, one with social rights and a new way of relating to the environment.

Thanks to the massive demonstrations in October and November 2019, we were able to install the first democratically elected Constitutional Convention, with parity, with seats for indigenous peoples and where independents could compete on equal terms with the parties. This Convention is now writing our new Magna Carta and taking into account the demands of more than a decade of mobilisations.

In this context, on 19 December we will choose our next president between Gabriel Boric and José Antonio Kast. 

Gabriel Boric is a faithful representative of this new political cycle. He was a leader of the student movement that established the demand for free education as a social right, he was elected deputy by defeating the traditional parties that have shared power for 30 years, and he was a key figure in the signing of the agreement that has allowed us to be writing a new constitution today.

José Kast represents the exact opposite. He participated in the campaign for the continuity of Agusto Pinochet's dictatorship, he left the Independent Democratic Union (the most right-wing political party at the time) for being too in favour of dialogue, and last year he led the campaign to reject the New Constitution.

At this crossroads, the people of Chile have reacted by spreading out into every commune and neighbourhood to organise in support of Gabriel's candidacy. Not only for fear of the constituent process coming to an end and the real danger posed by the far-right candidate. This campaign has also grown out of the hope of consolidating a process of transformations, so longed for by the citizens, in peace and order.

We therefore invite all progressive and democratic forces of the world to join us on 19 December, whether as observers of this process or from a distance, with messages of support and/or delegations. Once again, we need all the international solidarity, all the voices, all the support, so that Chile can move forward and not return to the darkest era of our history.

National Directorate of the Convergencia Social Party