Chile's new far-right president launches work on border barrier

A single bulldozer is carving a trench in the dusty desert of Chile's northern border zone

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chilean President José Antonio Kast wasted no time.

Less than a week after his inauguration, Chile’s arch-conservative president on Monday began overseeing preparations to build a border barrier — part of his flagship campaign promise to block immigrants from crossing illegally.

From Chile's northern frontier area of Chacalluta, where legions of immigrants have slipped across the Peruvian border into one of the region's most prosperous nations, Kast vowed to implement what he calls his “Border Shield" plan. Among other steps, it involves the construction of a physical barrier at the nation's northern border made up of ditches and fences and patrolled by drones and the military forces.

So far, it doesn't look like much. A single bulldozer on Monday could be seen digging into the desert to carve out a trench.

But Kast assured the public that “for all of Chile, this is a milestone.”