Jose Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidential election on Sunday, emerging victorious in the country’s second round of elections.
Kast, a conservative candidate, will usher in a new era in the Chilean government, as he easily defeated Jeannette Jara, a member of the Chile Communist Party.
He ran on a political platform that promised relief from the failures of the current left-wing government of Chilean President Gabriel Boric, most notably in the areas of crime, immigration, and security. Public opinion polls revealed Boric was extremely unpopular and Jara was seen as an extension of his government, as she was the labor minister in Boric’s government, according to the New York Times. Kast decisively won Sunday’s election by a 58%-42% margin.
Kast campaigned on a platform of security, promising relief from the violent crime wave that has plagued Chile and significant immigration reform measures, including the deportation of illegal immigrants and building a “physical barrier” along the country’s northern border, the New York Times reported.
“Chile will be free from crime again, free from anguish, free from fear,” Kast said in his victory speech on Sunday. “Criminals, delinquents — their lives are going to change. We’re going to look for them, find them, judge them, and then we’re going to lock them up.”
Kast’s message resonated with voters, as he highlighted Chile’s 50% increase in homicide victims from 2018 to 2024, according to the New Yotk Times.
“Chile needs order,” Kast added.
Kast had previously expressed his admiration for President Donald Trump, and many have noticed the similarities in their presidential campaigns. Both promised relief from surges in criminal violence and vast immigration reform. Some of Kast’s supporters were seen wearing “Make Chile Great Again” hats after the election, similar to the ones made famous by Trump and his supporters.
Sunday’s election followed the first round of elections on Nov. 16, which did not result in any candidate earning more than 50% of the vote. Incidentally, in the first round, Jara had a higher percentage of the vote, edging Kast by nearly 3 percentage points, 26.85%-23.93%. As neither candidate reached the 50% threshold, both proceeded to the second round of elections, which Kast easily won.
Several prominent supporters took to social media to celebrate his victory, including Argentinian President Javier Milei and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“One more step for our region in the defense of life, freedom, and private property,” Milei said on X on Sunday night. “I am sure that we will work together so that America embraces the ideas of freedom and we can free ourselves from the oppression of 21st-century socialism.”
“Congratulations to Chilean President-Elect José Antonio Kast on his victory,” Rubio said on Sunday night. “The United States looks forward to partnering with his administration.”
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The Chilean presidential election is the latest on the South American continent in which voters have elected a right-wing president to lead their country, following the aforementioned Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and, technically, Venezuela, though Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denied his election defeat and refused to leave office.
Kast will begin his term on March 11, 2026.
