A POLITICAL earthquake has struck Chile. Or so it appears as the young and handsome son of a famous Leftist guerrilla fighter, killed in a firefight during General Augusto Pinochet's regime, has overturned the political establishment during the campaign in Chile's presidential elections tomorrow – creating a split in the Leftist governing coalition and opening the way for the Right to take over in the country.
Marco Enríquez-Ominami, a 36-year-old congressman and film producer of Scottish descent through his father, Miguel Enríquez Espinosa, is known as MEO, or Chile's Obama and nicknamed "El Discolo" (the Rebel).
He presents himself as a left-wing Nic
olas Sarkozy, drawing from his years living in exile in France with one of his father's comrades, Carlos Ominami.
A member of the Socialist Party, he created a splinter group earlier this year from the centre-left Concertación alliance, in power since Chile's return to democracy in 1990, after not being allowed to participate in primaries to elect the candidate.
His message of renewal of the country's stagnant political class and a new "citizen politics" has struck a chord among Chileans, especially the young.
He supports some policies of anti-US Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and has called to legalise gay marriage and raise business taxes as well as copper mining royalties from 5 per cent to 8 per cent to finance social programmes and bolster public education while lowering income tax.
Mr Ominami is trailing the Concertacion's mainstream candidate, Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei. A recent poll showed Mr Ominami at 19 per cent and Mr Frei at 26 per cent, while centre-right businessman Sebastian Piñera leads the race with 36 per cent – opening the way for him to participate in a runoff on 17 January.
"We're doing really well everywhere, the problem is the countryside where people still are grateful for Frei's father's agrarian reform. In the cities we're tied or in first place, the message of change is strong in urban areas," Mr Ominami told The Scotsman while holding on to the back of a pick-up van as part of a caravan heading to the city of Rancagua, some 50 miles south of Santiago.
As he spoke, a group of young women hung from the windows of a bus yelling and waving at him. He turned around and blew kisses at them while making the victory sign which is also "2", the number of his electoral list.
He is unruffled by accusations that his candidacy has split the Left, thus opening the way for the Right to take over power in Chile for the first time since democracy was restored two decades ago, with some Concertación leaders calling him a "traitor" in private.
"We're the only ones who have made Piñera lose votes, and polls indicate that only we can defeat him in the second round."
Critics also claim that he has a weak and inconsistent team behind him, with hard-line leftists being put together with some extreme right-wing elements.
According to them, Mr Ominami has little management experience and was opportunistic by taking advantage of Concertación fatigue in Chile, with people tired of the same faces and policies.
