Chile’s migrants seek escape

ALONG Chile’s desert border with Peru, dozens of undocumented migrants line up under the hot sun to try to seek a way out of the country.

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The clock is ticking down to a presidential runoff election on December 14, with far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast the frontrunner to win the second round of voting against leftist Jeannette Jara.

Kast has vowed to expel hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants from Chile, prompting residents hailing from Venezuela and other parts of Latin America to seek refuge elsewhere before the crackdown.

“Kast said he was going to remove foreigners who have not been regularized,” Milbayajaira Rivas, a 56-year-old nurse originally from Venezuela, said.