Arturo Squella, president of Republicanos, described the recent debate between Jeannette Jara and José Antonio Kast as a 'festival of slander and insult'. In an interview with Canal 24 Horas, he defended Kast's strategy and criticized Jara's personal attacks. The event, organized by ARCHI, took place at Campus Oriente UC a week before the presidential elections.
The debate between presidential candidates Jeannette Jara (PC) and José Antonio Kast (Republican Party) lasted nearly two and a half hours and took place on Wednesday morning at Campus Oriente UC, organized by the Chilean Broadcasters Association (ARCHI). Just over a week before the December 14 elections, Jara challenged Kast, criticizing his economic advisor Jorge Quiroz for alleged collusion with pharmacies and questioning the candidate for not answering panelists' queries, especially on fiscal cuts.
Arturo Squella, spokesperson for Kast's campaign and president of Republicanos, commented on Canal 24 Horas that Jara displayed an attitude of 'clash and personal disqualification', far from idea-based confrontation. “I saw a candidate who was determined, a bit like what we've seen in recent days... entering into clash and personal disqualification”, he said. Squella stressed that Kast's campaign focuses on critiquing the current government's actions, not personal attacks: “You will never find anything related to Jeannette Jara's person or the people on her teams”.
Regarding the debate, Squella called it “a festival of slander and insult against other people”, citing accusations against Quiroz and deputy Cristián Araya, linked to payments from Sergio Yáber. He defended Kast for not answering some questions: “What happens is that she doesn't like what he answers, which is quite different”. On the 6 billion dollar fiscal spending cut, Squella explained it is based on the Autonomous Fiscal Council's 5.9 billion estimate from earlier this year and that it won't affect the Universal Guaranteed Pension (PGU). “At this point, I hope all of Chile knows that no social benefit will be touched”, he assured, adding that economic growth would allow increases for the neediest.
Squella highlighted the need to keep bridges open for future challenges like public security and economic reactivation, warning that irreversible attacks complicate opposition-government relations.