Chile’s September

Chileans often remark that if they can get through August, their harshest winter month, life will begin to get better; they can begin to warm up, day-by-day, with a look way ahead to the end-of-year holidays and summer vacations.

September, then, is the month when things begin to happen, Chileans begin to again get out and about.

In recent years, right away on the 4th of the month, they are faced with the memory of this day back in 2022, when a surprising 65% of the populace voted down an attempt to replace the existing constitution. Led essentially by political forces of the left, the proposal was way too radical for the great majority of Chileans, so after about a year of heated discourse, and much learning about what makes up successful constitutions, it was roundly defeated.

On each September 4th since 2022, the celebration by those who led and supported the opposition to the proposed changes has decreased in intensity and participation. However, the result of this plebiscite is seen as a sound defeat for the “Octubrismo” movement that attempted to redefine and restructure Chile’s governance, so the 4th of September remains an important day when massive political action really made a difference.

September 4, however, is only a preamble to what follows. Political passions continue to rise until just a week later, the now iconic date of September 11 arrives to stir up Chileans’ collective memory once again. The coup in 1973, led by military leaders (most refer to Pinochet as the leader of the takeover, but the real impetus reportedly came from the head of the Navy), rerouted the political and socio-economic direction of Chile; a revolution of sorts.

Each year, around the 11th of September, the deepest fissures in Chilean society are once again exposed, reminding everyone that there is still a huge difference of opinion on the causes and effects of that day. Some believe it was a day of infamy, others of liberation. Regardless, while many Chileans state they would like to move on from that open sore on the country’s history, they cannot. Each year around this day, they prove that moving on from something that left so many casualties will take more than just a few decades.

Chile and the US share strong memories of September 11 events. Although the circumstances, causes, and effects were very different in each case, over the succeeding years it seems pretty clear that in both cases, the cost of vengeance has been too high.

After the routine September 11th demonstrations and speeches in front of the Presidential Palace (La Moneda), the placing of red carnations at the foot of Salvador Allende’s statue, and speeches in the Museo del Recuerdo y la Memoria (the largest of many places memorializing the tragic events begun that day), Chileans exhale and look ahead to their twin national holidays. The first is on September 18, which celebrates Chile’s independence from Spain, and the second, on September 19, which honors the “glorious armed forces of Chile”. As anyone can imagine, this massive military parade at the center of the celebration on the 19th, adds another layer of complexity in the context of September 11. 

Almost three decades ago the Chilean government, along with important leaders of civil society, decided to make the entire week around September 18/19 a celebration of Chilenidad, of Chilean national culture. This was an attempt to help Chileans move on, at least temporarily, from their entrenched feelings about September 11 that have divided Chileans since that day.

Actually, now the whole month of September is considered the time when Chilean culture and history take over the discussion, the good, the bad and the ugly all packaged in one month. It’s the time when Chileans vacation in their own country, spending time in rural villages and farms where families still have some form of familial or business connection. Over time, however, Chileans’ link to the country life is waning, but many of the customs, food, and drink are still rooted in rural Chile.

September presents Spring in rural Chile, so it provides the backdrop to many of the Chilean customs featured, sold, and bought in the celebrations of the national holiday. Of course there are civic meetings, parades, and pronouncements acclaiming the durability of the country’s liberal and democratic governing system. But there is an overriding tendency, after the long, dingy winter, to clean up the grill and prepare for days of asados made up of savory sausages, steak, kabobs of chicken, pork, and lamb, accompanied by ensalada Chilena, that apparently simple mixture of onion, tomato, and cilantro, and of course empanadas de pino.

Nine years ago, I wrote a description of the importance of the Empanada Chilena in the context of the celebration of the 18th of September. Please visit that post again. I believe that is the best I can do on this subject

September is the time when school children are taught and retaught, year after year, how to dance the national dance. The Cueca is a difficult set of movements, requiring serious collusion between the pair of dancers, depicting the mating stomping and fluttering of a rooster and a hen. Dressed in colorful blouses and skirts the hen seems to entice then reject the rooster, who is dressed in huaso garb, including spurs on his boots that help him make more noise and look more imposing though clumsy at the same time. At the end, the dancers are supposed to join happily to exit together, but often the end appears to be an exhausted escape, rather than a happy ending.

Chileans living outside of Chile during the month of September suffer, for not being in Chile. This nostalgia especially sets in around the 18th, when images from Chile show their countrymen and women engulfed by the lively music, children and adults all dancing together, endless celebrations with classic rural Chilean food and bottle after bottle of wonderful vino tinto y del otro. But wherever Chileans live throughout the United States, “18” parties spring up.

We, in Leesburg, Virginia, do the best we can to make the celebration as real as possible. We even erect ramadas and give them names; “Fonda del Coño Sur“, “Fonda de los Huasos Curados“, “Fonda de Los Ochentones“.  We spend days preparing, then gather to eat, drink, sing the Chilean National Anthem, drink again, and remember our good times living and working in Chile.

This year, September is also the time when the process to elect a new president in Chile begins in serious. After a series of primaries and lots of juggling of potential candidates for the highest office in the Chilean executive branch, and half the senators and all the deputies in the legislature, the lists are finalized and campaigning begins. Voting in Chile is exemplary, a model election officers (and scholars) from each state in the US should study. This election is on November 16. 

For president, there were eight candidates who qualified for the first organized public debate. Out of that debate it seems that three are actual contenders with the best chance to compete : Jeannette Jara (member of the Communist Party and representing the leftist governing coalition named Unidad para Chile), José Antonio Kast (member of the Republican party and representing the conservative right coalition named Cambio para Chile), and Evelyn Matthei (member of the UDI party and representing the conservative coalition of parties called Chile; Grande y Unido).

Jeannette Jara most recently served as Minister of Labor in the Boric administration. She bases her qualifications to be president on her sponsorship of several laws enacted while she was Minister, especially the increase in minimum wage for workers, reduction of the official workweek, and pension reform. She held positions in the Bachelet government, and is widely associated with support for unions.

José Antonio Kast has run for president twice before, the last in 2021, when he lost to Gabriel Boric in the runoff round. He has served in the Chamber of Deputies. His focus is on promising better control of immigration, aggressive means to provide better personal security for Chileans, their homes and businesses, and to combat narco-terrorism that is on the rise throughout Chile, especially in the northern regions bordering Peru and Bolivia, and in the capital city, Santiago and surroundings.

Evelyn Matthei was most recently Mayor of Providencia Comuna, one of the largest and most prosperous comunas in Chile. She served in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. She served previously as Minister of Labor under the Piñera administration, and ran, unsuccessfully, for president against Michelle Bachelet. Her father, Fernando Matthei, General of the Air Force, replaced Gustavo Leigh in the Junta Militar from 1978-1990.

The election is on November 16, 2025. At this point, It is way too early to base very large bets based on the public opinion polls. To win the election in the first round, a candidate must win an absolute majority of votes cast. With eight candidates in the running, and three strong candidates in the running, it appears difficult at this time that any candidate will win in the first round. However, the public media campaigning has just now started, and this can have a huge impact, especially on those electors who are not decided at this point.

If the voting happened today, it looks like Jara and Kast would go to the runoff in January, 2026. Were that to happen, Chile would be looking at a runoff election between a member of the Communist party and an extreme conservative. Both would have to increase their appeal towards the center of the electorate. That’s why people I talk to are wondering how feasible it is for Matthei, who is more in the center than Kast, to increase her support so as to survive the first-round election. That’s the big question in September, 2025. But it’s a long time to November 16, and much can move public opinion in Chile in just a short period of time.

Daveschilelives will be watching, and reporting.  Stay tuned.

Viva Chile.

Posted in Leesburg, Virginia, on September 29, 2025.  

David Joslyn

David Joslyn, after a 45-year career in international development with USAID, Peace Corps, The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and private sector consulting firms, divides his time between his homes in Virginia and Chile. Since 2010, David has been writing about Chile and Chileans, often based upon his experience with the Peace Corps in Chile and his many travels throughout the country with family and friends.