Chile's dark past hangs over presidential run-off

Andres Cohen bought his first cafe on Plaza Baquedano 18 years ago.

The square in Santiago's city centre has traditionally been the focal point for important events - football wins, political rallies, a place of celebration. So it was a good money earner.

But in the past two years, much has changed.

In October 2019, protests broke out, sparked by a rise in the price of metro tickets.

They quickly escalated, with demands including better access to education, healthcare and pensions.

The "estallido social" - or social outbreak in English - was a call for change in this economically stable yet deeply unequal country.

A year later, one of the biggest demands was realised when Chileans overwhelmingly voted in favour of re-writing the dictatorship-era constitution.

Andres was one of them - but now he is tired.

A month after protests started in 2019, a second cafe he owned nearby got ransacked. Overnight, 70% of his business was destroyed.

"I came down here and cried," he says. "Years of work destroyed in a matter of hours."

It took Andre eight months to return, so traumatised and fearful he was of what had happened.

It's this fear that far-right candidate José Antonio Kast has capitalised on, tapping in to peoples' desire for stability.

It helped him win the first round, taking 28% of the vote, while the closest rival, leftist Gabriel Boric, secured 25%. Polls are showing it's now neck-and-neck between the candidates.

Father-of-nine Kast is against abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration. He has also praised the military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet.

But Mr Kast will get Andres' vote.

"We all want things to change but destroying the country is not the way," he says, itting that as a business owner he's in a difficult position.

"On the one hand, a victory for the left will help calm this area, but it leaves big doubts in of the economy when it comes to me as a small business. It's hard, what do I do, which side do I choose":[]}