I take issue with Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s characterization of “Chile’s High-Stakes Election” (Americas, Dec. 13). First, the Communist Party’s Eduardo Artés won less than 1% of the first-round vote and has refused to endorse left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric. Second, Ms. O’Grady argues a Boric victory will “tear down” Chile’s democratic institutions, yet she doesn’t note that the right-wing candidate, José Antonio Kast, has praised the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who did dismantle democratic rule in Chile.

Third, she...

Chilean presidential candidate Eduardo Artés during a debate in Santiago, Nov. 15.

Photo: Esteban Felix/Associated Press

I take issue with Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s characterization of “Chile’s High-Stakes Election” (Americas, Dec. 13). First, the Communist Party’s Eduardo Artés won less than 1% of the first-round vote and has refused to endorse left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric. Second, Ms. O’Grady argues a Boric victory will “tear down” Chile’s democratic institutions, yet she doesn’t note that the right-wing candidate, José Antonio Kast, has praised the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who did dismantle democratic rule in Chile.

Third, she blames “trained terrorists” for unleashing violence during the October 2019 uprising. But the government has yet to identify who was responsible for the initial attacks on the metro system. Subsequent property damage, including to multiple churches, was inflicted largely by anarchist youth rather than some hit squad, as her language implies.

Prof. Eric Zolov

Stony Brook University

Stony Brook, N.Y.