Daniel Jadue is mayor of Recoleta and a leading figure in the Chilean Communist Party.
With just two weeks until Chile’s presidential election, the race between the Left and the far right is narrowing. Jacobin spoke to Communist mayor Daniel Jadue about why he’s supporting his former rival, Gabriel Boric, and how radicals can build power at the local level.
On Sunday, Chileans voted by a huge majority to abandon the Augusto Pinochet-era constitution. Currently first place in polls for next year’s presidential election, Chilean Communist Daniel Jadue told Jacobin how his country can break from Pinochet’s neoliberal dogmas.
Frustration over life under neoliberalism has created mass revolt in the streets of Chile. But unless we build an alternative to failed neoliberal policies, a historic opportunity will be lost.
Even under right-wing governments, local leftist leaders can have a massive impact. Daniel Jadue describes the “people’s pharmacy,” cheap eye-care and glasses, public housing, left approaches to community safety, and much more instituted during his time as the Communist mayor of Recoleta, one of the thirty-seven municipalities that make up Greater Santiago, Chile.