Leftist former labor minister Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast were leading the country’s presidential race on Sunday, according to partial results, which show them heading to a December run-off.

With 52.39 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, was on 26.58 percent, compared to 24.32 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said.

The next closest candidate, ultra-right MP Johannes Kaiser, conceded defeat.

The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs.

Kast has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to keep out migrants from poorer countries to the north, such as Venezue

See Full Page