Chile's presidential election will be decided in a December run-off between a Communist Party and a far-right candidate after a first round on Sunday failed to deliver a clear winner.
Crime and immigration were the main themes of the campaign, as the influx of people into the country has increased recently, and candidates vowed to combat foreign gangs such as Venezuela's Tren de Aragua.
Communist Party's Jeannette Jara from the ruling coalition won the first round by a hair, followed by far-right contender José Antonio Kast.
The outcome is expected to benefit Kast, as Jara was the only left-wing candidate facing multiple right-wing candidates, dividing the right-wing vote.
In the 14 December run-off, voters will have to choose between them.
Kast is likely to draw votes from other candidates who failed to reach the runoff, including centre-right Senator Evelyn Matthei and radical libertarian Congressman Johannes Kaiser.
If he wins, Chile would become the latest Latin American nation to swing to the right.
Kast is a right-wing lawyer and former congressman who lost the 2021 election's runoff to President Gabriel Boric. This is his third time running for president.
The father of nine has advocated for a hardline approach to immigration, including a Trump-style "border wall". He's against abortion even in rape cases, has slammed environmental and indigenous activism, and wants to downsize the state.
His brother was a minister in Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship and his father was a Nazi.
Kast said on election night that Chile had to avoid "continuity of a very bad government - perhaps the worst government in the democratic history of Chile".
Jara is a Communist Party member, but is considered centre-left in practice.
She was a minister in Boric's government and her campaign has featured promises to boost lithium production - a metal used in electronics - raise the minimum wage, build new prisons and send the army to guard Chile's borders.
As results were coming through, she said: "Democracy in our country must be taken care of and valued. And it costs us a lot to recover it, today it is at risk."
Both candidates have touted their promises on crime and immigration, with organized crime and kidnappings having increased in the country.
Chile's foreign population has grown since 2017. The National Migration Service reported in December 2023 that the foreign population in the country had exceeded 1.9 million people, an increase of over 46% since 2018.
Official figures put the number of illegal migrants in the country at 330,000, many of them from Venezuela.
Kast has attributed the increase in crime to immigration, although studies indicate that foreigners commit fewer crimes than Chileans on average.
Chile, seen as wealthier and safer than some other Latin American countries, is an attractive destination for migrants in the region, and for those coming back from the US after President Donald Trump's migration crackdown.
Kast has promised to dig ditches on Chile's northern border with Peru and Bolivia, and mass deportations of undocumented migrants and those who entered the country illegally. He's also pledged new maximum-security prisons, like the ones in El Salvador.
Jara has pledged to construct new prisons and deport foreigners found guilty of drug trafficking.
This was the first election in which all eligible voters were automatically registered and voting was mandatory in Chile.
