Chile: Piñera Wins First Round But Faces Uphill Task in Run-Off

SANTIAGO, Chile - Former leader Sebastián Piñera won the first round of presidential elections in Chile but now faces an uphill battle as a fractured center-left looks to unite and prevent him from returning to the Moneda presidential palace.

With no internal competition and a fractured camp on the other side of the ideological spectrum, Piñera has consistently held the lead in the presidential polls before the election and as expected, he finished in first place

What was unexpected, however, was the margin of victory; in the Piñera camp, there were hopes of even an outright victory in the first round but this threshold was not reached. Furthermore, what was even more unexpected was how minimal the difference was between the second and third placed candidates.

Piñera, a billionaire businessman who led Chile from 2010 to 2014 on behalf of the center-right National...