Eduardo Artés
Eduardo Antonio Artés Brichetti (born 25 October 1951) is a Chilean educator and political figure. He is the leader of the Patriotic Union, which nominated him as a candidate for the 2017 and 2021 presidential elections. Artés seeks the "refoundation of Chile" in the name of Salvador Allende's Popular Unity government, calling for a feminist, plurinational, workers state. Biography. Artés was born in the town of El Tambo, in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua. He comes from a peasant family with a leftist tradition, in which there were militants of the Communist Party and also a grandfather  with an anarchist tendency. In 2005 he was a candidate for senator for Santiago with support of the coalition Juntos Podemos Más. In 2017, Artés claimed that it was necessary to put an end to the current Constitution of Chile, and convene a Constituent Assembly, through which the people would be able to build the foundations of the country, in order to fulfill his government program. Ideology. Eduardo Artés is critical of the traditional Chilean left, calling himself a Marxist-Leninist. He has publicly manifested his admiration and support to North Korea, claiming that Kim Jong-un has led the  country in a proper manner, in which social and political issues have been well handled. He claims that North Korea is a "full popular democracy" and has denied the violations of human rights in North Korea, arguing that "in Chile there are more human rights violations than in North Korea" and that "the first human right is national unity, it is to have all the rights to free healthcare, free housing, assured work, that is to say, quality of life, and that is determined by them." Controversies. In January 2019, during a demonstration by Venezuelans in Chile against the government  of Nicolás Maduro, members of the Communist Party (Proletarian Action) came to the scene to dissuade protesting immigrants. Artés was filmed saying "you are in Chile, and you have no right to be here in the national territory and to insult Chileans" and "Go and kiss the shoes of Yankee imperialism (...) you are a "gusano", you are scrawny." One of the most controversial phrases occurred during an interaction he had with a Venezuelan woman, to whom he repeatedly said to her "Damn, you're skinny!" after she affirmed that in Venezuela she was "starving" due to shortages. Eduardo Artés Eduardo