Wide front (Chile)

The Broad Front, in its Declaration of Principles, approved 5 central goals as the basis of political activity:

• Promoting the inclusiveness of a country that cares about the environment and protects social rights (including education and health).
• Avoiding neoliberal economic policies towards a new development model.
• Creating alternatives that would challenge the left- and center-right coalitions that have ruled Chile since Pinochet.
• Promoting the unity of various progressive forces and ensuring their independence from corporate power.
• Building participatory (real) democracy. ^[one]

The coalition has the same name as the center-left coalition The Wide Front in Uruguay, but the Chilean Wide Front is more compared to the Spanish Podemos party. ^[2]

The foundations of the coalition were laid during student protests in Chile in 2011-2013. Within the student movement, new forces gradually supplanted such traditional left-wing and center-left movements as the Communist youth of Chile . The latter was represented, in particular, by Camila Vallejo ; however, other student leaders like Gabriel Boric and Hiorgio Jackson came from autonomic left-wing radical initiatives and subsequently initiated the formation of the Wide Front.

In August 2016, the Borich (Autonomous Left) and Jackson (Democratic Revolution) movements entered into a formal agreement with the Libertarian Left, the New Democracy, and the Humanist Party . Following the 2016 municipal elections, Jorge Sharp of the Autonomist Movement became the first independent politician to lead Valparaiso , Chile’s third largest city.

In January 2017, a coalition of 11 parties and movements was officially formed ^[3] .

After the primary domestic election , the famous presidential journalist Beatrice Sanchez was nominated as a presidential candidate in the 2017 election . Some polls rated her chances of getting into the second round against right-wing candidate Sebastian Pinhera as equal with her colleague and sociologist Alejandro Guiller , a nominee for the center-left coalition New Majority . As a result, she received more than 1.336 million votes (20.3% of the total).

At the same time, the Wide Front put forward candidates for parliamentary elections . Here he was also accompanied by success, both for a new and anti-systemic force: almost 1 million votes (16.5%) and 20 deputies.

The coalition includes 7 political parties. In addition, it included several more political movements: Autonomous Left, Autonomist Movement, Progressive Democratic Movement, Libertarian Left, New Democracy, Socialism and Freedom, as well as some other organizations and movements. ^[four]

• Official site