Carolina Tohá has been at the center of Chilean politics for over three decades. As a student leader at the University of Chile in the 1980s, she was a prominent figure in the movement that brought down the Pinochet dictatorship. In 1987, she co-founded the Party for Democracy alongside Ricardo Lagos, one of the parties that anchored Chile’s transition to democracy.

Her institutional career spans every level of Chilean public life: legislator in the Chamber of Deputies, first woman elected mayor of Santiago, first woman to serve as government spokesperson, and Minister of the Interior and Public Security under President Gabriel Boric — one of the most demanding portfolios in contemporary Chilean politics, encompassing public security, institutional reform, and crisis management. In 2025, she ran for the presidency as the candidate of Chile’s center-left coalition.

In this conversation, Tohá reflects on her political trajectory, the challenges facing Latin American democracies today, and her vision for the region’s future.