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Original article: Balance político y económico 2025: Geopolítica de la resistencia y urgencia de la reconstrucción popular

By Juan Andrés Lagos, Florencia Lagos Neumann, and Jean Flores Quintana

The end of 2025 marks more than just a change of the calendar; it signifies a tectonic fracture in contemporary history.

We find ourselves on the threshold of high complexity, where the terminal crisis of the neoliberal civilizational model collides with the violent reconfiguration of global power.

This analysis cannot be confined to electoral arithmetic or the management of defeat; it demands a rigorous, class-aware, and decolonized reading that links the «new planetary governance» with the deep-seated struggle for the meaning of democracy in Chile.

The recent electoral battle is not an isolated event but a local expression of a world-system that, having exhausted its ability to generate consensus, now openly resorts to authoritarianism and brute force to safeguard the privileges of a transnational minority.

Below, we present a comprehensive analysis of geopolitical and national dimensions, written from the urgency of organizing hope.

I. Global Geopolitics: The Violent Twilight of Hegemony and Hybrid Warfare

The international scene is marked by the agony of the «American Century.» We are not witnessing a peaceful transition but rather the virulent reaction of a wounded hegemony.

The crisis of neoliberalism in the Global North has led to a phase of expansive militarism and a monolithic mindset that seeks to nullify any dissent. Western powers, unable to compete in the real economy against the rise of new development poles in Eurasia and the Global South, have activated a hybrid war apparatus: sanctions, financial blockades, and media terrorism.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House must be understood in this context: it is not an anomaly but the embodiment of a desperate «imperial offensive» aimed at disciplining its «backyard.»

Washington’s strategy seeks to reinstate the Monroe Doctrine to ensure, through coercion and force, exclusive control over our strategic resources. In a world inevitably moving toward multipolarity, submitting to this decaying protectionism is not diplomacy; it is historical suicide.

The material reality of our economy indicates that Chile’s sovereign future is inextricably linked to the Asia-Pacific region and engagement with BRICS+, the only pathway to break the chains of underdevelopment.

This offensive is complemented by the coordinated rise of a «reactionary international.» From Europe to the Southern Cone, capital employs the far-right as a shock force to block popular alternatives.

By cynically instrumentalizing organized crime and migration—phenomena caused by their own wars and plunder—they shift the debate from structural inequality to fear and police control, justifying states of emergency that protect financial capital while jeopardizing lives.

II. Latin American Geopolitics: Dignity as a Bulwark Against Modern Piracy

In Latin America, the dispute has shifted from diplomacy to open resistance against «modern piracy.»

The U.S. administration and its local operators have normalized the theft of sovereign assets and economic blockade as tools of suffocation against peoples that refuse to align. In the face of this siege, defending the sovereignty of Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela is not merely an ideological affinity; it is a continental survival imperative.

These processes have erected walls of dignity that counteract attempts at recolonization. Resisting foreign interference, «soft coups,» and lawfare is the sine qua non for conceiving any development project.

The region now grapples with two antagonistic models: sovereign reintegration, capable of industrializing our raw materials, or dependent «anarco-capitalism,» which offers to auction our wealth to the highest foreign bidder in exchange for a false sense of stability.

The only effective bulwark is the steadfast defense of our natural resources—lithium, copper, water—and the construction of a Latin American unity that is operational rather than rhetorical. Overcoming the extractivist logic and shielding our democracies from the Southern Command’s interference are not theoretical options; they are the material foundations needed to defend life against a model that offers cemetery order in exchange for submission.

III. Chilean Politics: The Divide between People and Elite and the Fallacy of the Center

Bringing this to our reality, the 42% garnered by the popular candidacy is a heroic base of resistance, but the electoral defeat confirms that the old political map has been transcended. A profound divide has emerged: people versus elite.

The far-right, supported by the media monopoly, successfully hijacked the banner of «rebellion» to falsely present itself as the solution to a populace burdened by the economic insecurity generated by the neoliberal model.

Our sector’s significant strategic error was falling into the trap of the «political center.» In attempting to moderate our discourse and «de-communize» our proposal to appease an elite that will never accept us, we diluted our transformative identity.

This ambiguity allowed the right to establish the narrative of continuity, turning the election into a referendum against a government that, in the eyes of the indebted populace, was perceived more as an administrator of the system than as an agent of rupture. Moderation did not add votes; it detracted from our mystique and antagonistic clarity.

The defeat was sealed by the disconnection with the «obligated voter,» a precarious popular subject, a product of the model, who perceives the state as absent or inefficient. The void left by the lack of revolutionary leadership and political pedagogy was filled by a discourse of hate and individualism, amplified by algorithms and aggressive digital strategies that colonized common sense.

IV. The Power of Territorial Truth: Lessons from Resistance

However, comparative analysis provides us with a golden lesson: the truth resides in the territory.

The «resilient democracy» of the Communist Party and the consequential left has not fallen because it is grounded in real social insertion, unlike those «airborne» or social media projects that collapsed due to lack of roots.

Resistance has been forged at the municipal base, in unions, and community councils, demonstrating that discipline and political unity are the only tools to weather the storm.

The victories of emblematic figures in Valparaíso, Araucanía, and the fight for Human Rights are not coincidental; they are proof that where there is grassroots mobilization and a clear leftist proposition, it is possible to break the media siege and contend for consciousness.

Politics devoid of territorial support is fragile; the currency of the popular project hinges on its class character, prioritizing community organization over electoral adventurism and empty marketing.

V. Horizon 2026: Organizing the Popular Counteroffensive

The immediate scenario confronts us with the threat of an ultra-right government that, under the technical promise of a fiscal adjustment, aims to execute a plundering program: deepening extractivism, dismantling public services, and managing social conflict exclusively through repression and imprisonment.

Breaking with this logic is not a technical choice; it is a vital necessity. Fiscal responsibility cannot take precedence over social debt.

The challenge for the new cycle is to prevent this authoritarian project from solidifying into a long-term regime. This requires shifting politics from institutional corridors—where we always played as visitors—to the reconstruction of the social fabric. We must convert the more than 5 million votes into an organic, mobilized, and conscious force, capable of defending its leaders persecuted by lawfare and disputing cultural hegemony house by house.

This is no time for lamentation or desk analysis. It is time to organize our rage and transform it into disciplined hope. With the memory of our historical struggles intact and our gaze fixed on the future, we reaffirm that the only definitive defeat is surrender. Let us reclaim the initiative and organize the popular offensive!

By Juan Andrés Lagos, Florencia Lagos Neumann, and Jean Flores Quintana.-

La entrada Political and Economic Balance 2025: Geopolitics of Resistance and the Urgent Need for Popular Reconstruction se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.