MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Communist Jara wins Chilean ruling party's presidential primaries

Jara was Boric's labor minister between March 11, 2022, and April 7, 2025

Communist activist and former Labor Minister Jeannette Jara won the Chilean ruling party’s presidential primary Sunday with 60.16% of the vote, defeating Carolina Tohá (27.78%) and lesser challenges from Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet.

Jara’s victory, following intense internal negotiations within the Communist Party, makes her the candidate for a coalition including the Communist Party, Humanist Action, Broad Front, Socialist Party, and others.

President Gabriel Boric Font praised Jara’s leadership in advancing progressive forces and urged unity, while expressing respect for the defeated candidates. Tohá, acknowledging her loss, committed to supporting Jara and the Unity for Chile coalition.

Jara emphasized building a just, democratic Chile, rejecting empty promises and focusing on real solutions to counter rising far-right populism and social inequalities. She pledged to develop an inclusive government program and address urgent national needs with honesty and hard work.

Jara now leads “the forces of progressivism toward the future,” according to Boric.

“I salute and embrace Jeannette Jara for the tremendous support she received today. She immediately takes the lead of the forces of progressivism toward the future, which has clearly chosen her as its leader. What lies ahead will not be easy, but Jeannette knows about difficult battles,” the president posted.

“Now we must all work together for unity, with love and openness, to call on the majority of our compatriots to continue building a more just, safe, and happy country,” he added.

“As president, I greatly value the primary process, in which the people decide who will be on the final ballot in November, and today, more than 1.4 million people made their decision, thereby strengthening democracy. Let's get to work!” he further noted.

“Personally, I am saddened by this result, but I reaffirm that beyond this, a political project for Chile has been launched,” Tohá said. “We need to take responsibility for the fact that, for some reason, not all the people we expected to vote did so.”

“Today marks the beginning of a new path that we will walk together, with the conviction of building a more just and democratic Chile. In the face of the threat from the extreme right, we respond with unity, dialogue, and hope,” Jara