Chileans will elect a new president on Sunday, with an arch-conservative who has promised to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants strongly tipped to beat his leftist rival.
After a campaign dominated by fears over crime and immigration, José Antonio Kast –, a veteran politician, devout Catholic and father of nine – is on course to become Chile's first hard-right leader since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in 1990.
His opponent, Jeannette Jara, a Communist who leads the centre-left coalition, won the first round of voting in November.
But she looks set to be punished for the incumbent government's perceived failure to tackle rising crime and a stalled economy.
Before the country was "much safer," said 50-year-old mining consultant Claudio Benítez.
"The type of crime is different; now your life is in danger," he said.
Against this fearful backdrop, right-wing candidates collectively garnered more than 5
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