Medellin, Colombia – José Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile’s new president today, ushering in the country’s first far-right government since the fall of Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in 1990.
Kast defeated the Communist Party’s Jeanette Jara in the second round of voting last December, winning 58% after campaigning on focusing on law and order and addressing illegal immigration through mass deportations.
He succeeded left-wing president Gabriel Borrick and formed part of a broader right-wing wave across the country.
Chile’s new president is similar to U.S. President Donald Trump in his approach to certain policy issues, such as his pledge to curb illegal immigration, increase mass deportations and build a border wall.
Kast is a controversial figure. His father was a member of the Nazi Party and he grew up very conservative.
While studying law at Universidad Católica, he was mentored by Jaime Guzmán, who was Pinochet’s trusted advisor.
Caste has now become the first president to defend Pinochet’s legacy, suggesting the dictator would have supported his candidacy. He also appointed two former Pinochet lawyers, Fernando Baros and Fernando Rabat, as minister of defense and minister of justice and human rights, respectively. The move drew criticism from human rights groups.
Kast previously had an unsuccessful bid for the 2022 presidential election, losing to Boric. However, Borrick was a very unpopular president, with a 66% disapproval rating in a July 2025 opinion poll.
Caste recently withdrew from transition talks with his predecessor, claiming he had not been informed about the construction of an underwater cable connecting Chile and China. The controversy has raised concerns about the democratic transfer of power.
Kast is part of a growing right-wing coalition across the Americas backed by Trump, who has announced a return of the Monroe Doctrine that maintains Washington’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Kast attended Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit with other Latin American leaders on the Saturday before his inauguration, expressing his willingness to cooperate with Washington’s revitalized anti-drug strategy.
His inauguration ceremony in the coastal city of Valparaiso was attended by many prominent politicians from the Americas, including conservative leaders such as Ecuador’s Daniel Novoa and Argentina’s Javier Millais.
Brazil’s leftist President Lula Inácio da Silva canceled his attendance at the last minute after learning that his potential rival in the next election would be attending, Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of imprisoned former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado also attended the inauguration ceremony and posted on X that she was happy to meet Venezuelans during her visit to Chile.
Kast singled out Venezuelan immigrants, focusing his campaign on fighting illegal migration through mass deportations through his “Border Shield” plan. The report cites “hundreds of thousands of illegals contributing to crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking, gun smuggling, and labor exploitation.” Migrants make up nearly 10% of Chile’s population, with the largest group being Venezuelans, 17% of whom arrived irregularly, according to El País. Nonetheless, the number of irregular arrivals to Chile fell by 54% between 2021 and 2025, according to figures shared by Defense Minister Adriano Delpiano.
Despite Kast’s promises to restore public order amid rising crime, Chile remains one of the safest countries in Latin America.
Featured image caption: José Antonio Kast of the European Parliament.
Featured image credit: @joseantononiokast via X.
