Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast favourite to become Chile’s next president after first round vote | Chile
Ultraconservative lawyer José Antonio Kast is in pole position to become Chile’s next leader after advancing to the second round of the South American nation’s presidential election, where he will face Communist party candidate Jeannette Jara.
With more than 70% of the votes counted, Kast secured nearly 24% of the vote in Sunday’s first round of voting; He campaigned on tough promises to fight crime and immigration, while also promising to “put Chileans first” à la Donald Trump.
Jara received slightly more support, with about 26% of the vote going to the former labor minister of Chile’s outgoing center-left president, Gabriel Boric. But other right-wing candidates received almost 30% of the vote; This means Kast is the clear favorite in the second round of elections to be held on December 14.
Shortly after the result became clear on Sunday night, radical libertarian Johannes Kaiser, another right-wing candidate with nearly 14% of the vote, announced that he would support his far-right opponent “because the alternative is Ms. Jara” and Chile’s “impoverished leftists.”
Another conservative, Evelyn Matthei, who won nearly 13 percent of the vote, quickly followed suit, citing the “absolutely uncontrolled arrival” of immigrants and claiming Chile needed a “drastic change of direction.”
“Please support Kast… It is very important that this government does not remain in power. We have too many problems,” Matthei told voters in the front rows on stage.
Boric congratulated both candidates who made it to the second round after what the Chilean president described as “a great day of democracy”.
Speaking in the capital Santiago, Jara thanked his supporters and urged them not to forget that Chile is a great country despite attempts by its right-wing rivals to claim it is bankrupt.
Kast, 59, is running for the Chilean presidency for a third time after losing to Boric in 2021, and has built his campaign around two key promises: fighting crime and immigration.
One of Kast’s Trumpian plans, called Escudo Fronterizo (Border Shield), calls for building miles of trenches, barriers and walls along Chile’s northern border to keep out migrants. More than half a million Venezuelans have come to Chile in recent years due to their country’s economic collapse. “Chile was invaded… but that’s over,” Kast said in a campaign ad.
In October, Kast celebrated the “self-deportation” of 1.6 million immigrants from the United States, following the deportation of 500,000 under Trump.
“This [a proportion of] three to one. “We think it could be four to one or five to one here,” he said, describing his plans to create a hostile environment for immigrants in Chile.
Another important promise of Kast is a crackdown on foreign criminals, inspired by El Salvador’s authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele, who has imprisoned at least 2% of his country’s adult population since 2022. Although Chile remains one of the safest countries in the region, public security has become a key issue in the election, thanks to an increase in crimes such as assassinations, kidnappings and extortion.
Kast’s progress will be celebrated in Washington, where Trump officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have praised the conservative wave they believe is sweeping South America. Last month, neighboring Bolivia elected a centre-right president after 20 years of socialist rule. Right-wing candidates appear well positioned to win presidential elections in Colombia and Peru next year; Former left winger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces an uphill battle to retain his presidency in Brazil despite former president Jair Bolsonaro’s recent punishment for plotting a failed coup.
