Camila Vallejo Criticizes Kast’s Administration for Punishing Working Families Under Ultra-Right Governance

Original article: “Nos gobierna la ultraderecha de Milei y Trump”: Camila Vallejo arremete contra Kast por castigar a familias trabajadoras

Former government spokesperson Camila Vallejo fiercely criticized the ultra-right leadership of José Antonio Kast for promoting policies that harm and penalize working families.

“The central issue is that today in Chile we are governed by the ultra-right, the ultra-right of (Javier) Milei, the ultra-right of Donald Trump,” she asserted, describing their agenda as heavily ideological, dogmatic, and imposing, with little inclination for dialogue or consensus.

The former Secretary of State made her public appearance during the launch of the Digital Violence Observatory against Women in Politics, organized by Servel at the former National Congress in Santiago. She stated that the current government lacks a willingness to engage in dialogue and operates under a logic of imposition that threatens the basic consensuses of democracy.

The communist activist argued that ultra-right governments like Kast’s tend to promote «very authoritarian expressions» and agendas aimed at “reversing fundamental rights, undermining welfare states, and drastically reducing fiscal budgets.”

She warned that these policies ultimately harm working families, “to the benefit of the wealthy and large corporations,” she noted.

Vallejo Warns That Kast’s Mega Tax Reform Is a “Punishment to Working Families”

The main target of her criticisms was the mega economic tax reform pushed by Kast, currently under consideration in Congress, which includes controversial measures such as the reintegration of the tax system, reducing the corporate tax rate from 27% to 23%, and the tax invariability, a contentious protection that guarantees an unchanging tax regime for 25 years for investments exceeding $50 million, an idea that has faced backlash for being seen as a binding commitment for future governments.

Vallejo labeled this initiative as “another form of punishment to working families.”

According to the former spokesperson, the project has “the sole objective of ensuring that large corporations pay less taxes” and aims to “benefit the wealthiest 1% of the population.” “Do they really want to continue punishing all working families to benefit the richest percentage of the population, including some government ministers?” Vallejo questioned, as reported by Radio Universidad de Chile.

The Communist Party member did not limit her critique to the content of the tax reform; she also accused Kast’s government of implementing measures that directly impact the finances of Chileans. “We’ve seen that fuel prices have increased for working families, both low-income and middle-income groups. They have harmed them. They have eliminated or reduced public transportation frequency. They are diminishing the State’s capacity to deliver social services to families,” Vallejo listed as part of a diagnosis that, in her opinion, reveals a systematic pattern of regressive policies.

The former spokesperson also took aim at Kast’s government’s communication strategy, stating that they have decided to eliminate formal and institutional spokesperson roles for the Government, a choice that, in her view, “harms the democratic institutions of the country.” Vallejo recalled that “the ultra-right’s campaign on social media was very violent, heavily based on misinformation,” and warned that transferring this style to the Executive is incompatible with the respect deserving of democratic institutions.

In this context, Vallejo emphasized that Kast’s administration “needs to understand that its role is to govern, rather than basing its entire strategy on blaming the previous government”–