By Alexander Villegas
SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Aside from meeting electors and battling in televised debates, Chile’s presidential candidates have hit a musical note in their campaigns, issuing videos, songs and albums to win votes in the November 16 election.
Last Tuesday, the stoic and experienced conservative candidate Evelyn Matthei released a music video in which she stands cross-armed, surrounded by dancers with a trap soundtrack in the background. Drawing influence from hip-hop and reggaeton, trap has become a popular genre of music among Chile’s youth.
Nearly 3 million of the nation’s 15.6 million eligible voters are between the ages of 18 and 29, according to Chile’s election agency Servel.
“I’m not Kast, I’m not Jara, I’m Evelyn looking forward,” the song opening states, referring to the two frontrunning presidential candidates, far-right Republican candidate Jose Antonio Kast and the governing leftist coalition candidate, the Communist Party’s Jeannette Jara.
2.5 MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS
The video, which racked up 2.5 million views on YouTube in a few days, takes digs at both candidates, saying Jara would be a continuation of a scandal-ridden administration that has failed to tackle crime and economic unease. Matthei does not sing during the video, but it says she offers more concrete proposals than Kast and outlines her agenda.
“No, clearly she isn’t Jara … and clearly I’m not Matthei,” Jara told reporters about the song.
On Wednesday, Matthei’s campaign defended the video, saying it “was a different way to connect with youth, speaking to them in their own language.”
Jara’s campaign has opted for a simpler pop-like jingle: “It’s for you, it’s for Chile, it’s Jara.” But the candidate has been active on TikTok and social media, with videos showing her makeup kit or talking about her Spotify playlist.
Matthei’s right-leaning opponent Kast told local radio station Radio Universo the song was “bad” and called it a “big mistake.”
While Kast is second after Jara in the latest polling, his 15-song album for the campaign “Disco Kast Vol: 5,” which has an array of songs from hard rock, K-pop, reggae and reggaeton, makes him by far Chile’s most popular candidate on Spotify, with nearly 23,000 monthly listeners.
(Reporting by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Christian Plumb and Rod Nickel)
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