Who is Jose Antonio Kast, Chile’s newly elected far-right leader?

Far-right campaigner Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party – who claims to beryllium inspired by US President Donald Trump – has won Chile’s presidential run-off election, marking a large displacement successful the Latin American nation’s governmental landscape.

Kast, who campaigned connected a committedness to expel undocumented migrants and ace down connected crime, secured 58 percent of the votes against left-wing campaigner Jeannette Jara, who won 42 percent, successful 1 of the astir polarised elections successful caller memory. In the archetypal round, Kast finished 2nd to Jara. But helium went connected to predominate the December run-off with beardown enactment from crossed the close wing.

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“Chile needs bid – bid successful the streets, successful the state, successful the priorities that person been lost,” the 59-year-old blimpish hardliner, who volition instrumentality bureau connected March 11, 2026, told supporters successful his triumph speech.

His triumph is wide seen extracurricular Chile arsenic portion of a broader displacement to right-wing authorities successful Latin America, with blimpish leaders winning elections successful Ecuador and Bolivia successful caller months.

Who is Jose Antonio Kast?

Kast has tally for president aggregate times. He mislaid to incumbent President Gabriel Boric successful 2021 elections, receiving 44 percent of the vote. In the 2017 elections, helium contested arsenic an autarkic candidate, winning immoderate 8 percent of the votes.

After serving for much than 10 years arsenic a congressman from the centre-right Independent Democratic Union (UDI), helium stepped down successful 2016.  Then, successful 2019, the 59-year-old person founded the Republican Party, a much hard-line governmental entity, appealing to voters disillusioned with mounting insecurity and economical stagnation.

He trained arsenic a lawyer but aboriginal entered politics, becoming a councilman for the metropolis of Buin successful 1996.

Kast was calved successful 1966 successful Santiago, the superior city, to German immigrants with links to Nazis.

His begetter was a subordinate of the Nazi Party successful Bavaria earlier emigrating to Chile aft World War II. However, the president-elect has claimed his begetter was a forced Nazi conscript.

Kast’s older member Miguel was a cardinal slope president and a authorities curate successful the aboriginal 1980s during the regularisation of General Augusto Pinochet. Under his 17-year dictatorship, thousands of radical were killed, forcibly disappeared and tortured.

The president-elect is an admirer of Pinochet.

Kast is joined to Maria Pia Adriasola, a lawyer, with whom helium has 9 children.

What does helium basal for?

A staunch Catholic, Kast opposes termination and same-sex marriage. He has stated successful the past that helium would revoke the country’s constricted termination rights and prohibit the merchantability of the morning-after pill.

Consuelo Thiers, a lecturer astatine the University of Edinburgh successful the United Kingdom, said Kast volition beryllium the astir right-wing president since Pinochet.

“Kast is the archetypal president since the extremity of the dictatorship to person openly supported Pinochet,” she told Al Jazeera.

“[Former President Sebastian] Pinera, the past right-wing president, voted against Pinochet successful the 1988 referendum and besides embraced immoderate progressive policies, specified arsenic the legalisation of same-sex marriage,” she added.

By contrast, Kast supports highly blimpish positions, Thiers said, adding that helium was besides successful favour of granting state to individuals convicted of quality rights violations committed during Pinochet’s rule.

What are his cardinal policies?

Kast campaigned connected nationalist safety, promising to instrumentality an iron-fisted attack to transgression successful Chile – contempt the state being 1 of the safer nations successful Latin America.

He has pledged to nonstop the subject to high-crime areas, and has promised to physique much prisons. An IPSOS canvass of Chilean voters successful October showed 63 percent of respondents said information was a apical contented for them.

The president-elect besides takes a pugnacious attack to migration. He has projected gathering a constabulary unit inspired by the United States’ agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has carried retired a fig of “military-style” raids connected migrant communities and workplaces successful the US this twelvemonth successful hunt of undocumented people, galore of whom person been detained for deportation.

ICE is liable for managing the US national migration strategy and has come nether accrued criticism for its behaviour towards immigrants crossed the country, including those residing determination legally.

Supporters of Kast observe pursuing the statesmanlike run-off predetermination [Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images]

Similar to US President Donald Trump, Kast has projected gathering infrastructure astir the country’s bluish borderline to halt radical from coming in, and has vowed to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants.

Analyst Patricio Navia said tackling the contented of undocumented migrants volition beryllium his “biggest challenge”.

“According to estimations, determination mightiness beryllium up to 400,000 undocumented immigrants,” Navia, a prof astatine New York University, told Al Jazeera.

“It volition beryllium intolerable to expel each of them from the country,” helium added, but noted that successful caller weeks, Kast has “walked backmost immoderate of his harsher statements”.

“I deliberation helium volition effort to find a equilibrium betwixt his harsh run promises and the world that galore of those immigrants lend to the nationalist system and are present an integral portion of Chilean society,” Navia added.

Kast has besides threatened to enforce a authorities of siege successful the Araucania portion of Chile successful bid to expel equipped Indigenous groups. The measurement helium is proposing would springiness the subject sweeping powers, including warrantless searches and arrests, and would suspend cardinal civilian rights.

How person different countries responded to Kast’s win?

Right-wing allies successful the portion are celebrating Kast’s triumph arsenic portion of a broader blimpish resurgence crossed Latin America.

Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei was among the archetypal to congratulate him. “Enormous joyousness astatine the overwhelming triumph of my person José Antonio Kast,” helium posted connected X.

Ecuador’s right-wing President Daniel Noboa, meanwhile, said that “a caller epoch is opening for Chile and for the region”.

Congratulations to Chilean President-Elect @JoseAntonioKast connected his victory. The United States looks guardant to partnering with his medication to fortify determination information and revitalize our commercialized relationship.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) December 14, 2025

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his state “looks guardant to partnering with his medication to fortify determination information and revitalise our commercialized relationship”.

The Foreign Ministry of Spain’s leftist authorities said it volition look to “continue strengthening the relationship betwixt our peoples and the strategical narration betwixt our 2 countries”.

What does Kast’s triumph mean for determination politics?

Chile’s predetermination effect is portion of a wider determination displacement towards blimpish and, successful immoderate cases, far-right leadership, according to Edinburgh University’s Thiers.

“These leaders person mostly travel to powerfulness connected akin promises, peculiarly the pledge to repair economies successful terrible distress, arsenic successful Argentina, and to amended information successful a portion wherever organised transgression is rapidly expanding,” she said.

“Many radical spot successful these candidates the committedness of a drastic alteration that could importantly amended their lives,” Thiers added, noting it besides reflects a planetary inclination successful which incumbents find it “increasingly difficult” to triumph re-election, “as voters punish them by choosing absorption figures who committedness thing radically different”.

Meanwhile, world Navia described caller right-wing victories arsenic “just alternation successful power”.

“I would not suggest that the countries are becoming much blimpish oregon illiberal,” helium said.

“They were fed up with 20 years of left-wing regularisation successful Bolivia and voted for a mean right-wing candidate. In Chile, determination has been alternation successful powerfulness each 4 years since 2009. So, I would not suggest that we are seeing a tectonic displacement successful preferences.”