Who is Jose Antonio Kast, Chile’s newly elected far-right leader?
Al Jazeera
The president-elect has vowed to tackle crime and tighten immigration policies.
Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party – who claims to be inspired by US President Donald Trump – has won Chile’s presidential run-off election, marking a major shift in the Latin American nation’s political landscape.
Kast, who campaigned on a promise to expel undocumented migrants and crack down on crime, secured 58 percent of the votes against left-wing candidate Jeannette Jara, who won 42 percent, in one of the most polarised elections in recent memory. In the first round, Kast finished second to Jara. But he went on to dominate the December run-off with strong support from across the right wing.
“Chile needs order – order in the streets, in the state, in the priorities that have been lost,” the 59-year-old conservative hardliner, who will take office on March 11, 2026, told supporters in his victory speech.
His victory is widely seen outside Chile as part of a broader shift to right-wing politics in Latin America, with conservative leaders winning elections in Ecuador and Bolivia in recent months.
Kast has run for president multiple times. He lost to incumbent President Gabriel Boric in 2021 elections, receiving 44 percent of the vote. In the 2017 elections, he contested as an independent candidate, winning some eight percent of the votes.
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