US EditionJosé Antonio Kast to Take Office as Chile Shifts Right in Latest Election
Jose Antonio Kast vows strict law enforcement, mass deportations, and spending cuts, aligning closely with the U.S. amid concerns over rising crime and immigration, backed by about 60% of voters.
- On March 11, 2026, Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as president in Valparaíso, becoming Chile's most right-wing leader in over three decades and pledging to tackle violent crime and deport undocumented migrants.
- Kast's campaign capitalized on public anxiety about security and immigration, as voter fears over rising murders and a doubling of the immigrant population since 2017 helped drive support; he borrowed Trump’s playbook and met US allies last week in Florida.
- He filled key cabinet posts with two lawyers who defended Augusto Pinochet and an evangelical anti-abortion activist as incoming women's affairs minister.
- A spat with outgoing President Gabriel Boric over a Chinese submarine cable briefly stalled power transfer, while several right-wing leaders including Javier Milei, Rodrigo Paz and Daniel Noboa attend the inauguration.
- By aligning with US right-wing allies, Kast positions Chile within a new regional security axis after last week's Florida meetings and raised US concerns over Chinese investment in Latin America.
169 Articles
169 Articles
From Valparaíso to Santiago de Chile, the official events around the inauguration of the president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, convened in good standing...
Chile's new president José Antonio Kast promises a hard hand against criminals and migrants, immediately sends the army to the border. WORLD was at his inauguration – and it becomes clear why he polarizes so much.
Santiago. José Antonio Kast, the ultra-rightist admirer of dictator Augusto Pinochet and Catholic fundamentalist, yesterday assumed the presidency of Chile at a Republican ceremony in the National Congress, after which, from a balcony in the palace of La Moneda, seat of the government, he said that “we have been given a country in worse conditions than we could imagine.”
In right-wing shift, Chile's Jose Antonio Kast sworn in as president
Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile's president on Wednesday, ushering in the country’s sharpest shift to the right in decades as voters, alarmed by rising insecurity, backed a broader conservative turn sweeping parts of Latin America.
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