Chile's eight presidential candidates participated in their first debate on the night of September 10 ahead of the November election, with communist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right José Antonio Kast emerging as the projected frontrunners in what analysts expect to be a highly polarised contest.

The debate opened with immediate tension between Jara and Kast over allegations of organised bot networks spreading disinformation on social media. "The good thing about live programmes is that bots can't spread their lies... The public needs to know if the bots are yours, the bots that offended Evelyn and me, curiously, both women," Jara confronted Kast during the Chilevisión broadcast.

Kast deflected the accusation with a brief "no, and I'll leave it there," before beginning his remarks by lamenting the death of conservative American activist Charlie Kirk, an ally of US President Donald Trump, who was murdered at a Utah university event on September 10.

Jara, representing a unified left and centre-left coalition as a former minister under President Gabriel Boric, positioned herself as a candidate "with a proven ability to forge agreements", as quoted by EFE, and citing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as an exemplary world leader.

Kast advocated for "responsible gun ownership," revealing he owns "a revolver with five bullets," and proposed creating "a special prison for foreign criminals." He lavished praise on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and controversially supported potential US military intervention in Venezuela, "but not with Chilean troops."

Centre-right candidate Evelyn Matthei maintained a notably low profile throughout the debate, while Johannes Kaiser's National Libertarian Party signals additional right-wing fragmentation.

The pivotal November 16 election will feature mandatory voting for the first time since 2012, potentially reshaping traditional polling predictions.

While Kast and Jara appear to be in a tight contest according to polling, Kast is widely expected to emerge as the favourite in a run-off scenario, with Criteria projecting that Kast would defeat Jara 50% to 32% in a battle between the two, which is likely to happen given that no candidate seems poised to earn over 50% of the vote.