In brief
In a landmark election, Chile has elected right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast as its next president, marking a significant departure from the left-wing governance that has prevailed since the end of the military dictatorship in 1990. Kast won decisively against Jeannette Jara, championing a platform centered on crime reduction, immigration control, and economic deregulation. His election could reshape Chile's policies and its societal landscape as he prepares to take office in March 2026.
Chile has elected the far-right wing José Antonio Kast to be its next president, after an election campaign that was dominated by themes of security, immigration, and crime.
Kast beat the governing left-wing coalition candidate Jeanette Jara decisively with more than 58% of the vote in his third attempt at running for president.
It marks the biggest shift to the right since the end of Chile's military dictatorship in 1990. Kast has openly praised Chile's former right-wing dictator, Augusto Pinochet.
In his first speech to supporters as president-elect, Kast said: Chile will once again be free from crime, free from anguish, free from fear.
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, he added.
At a gathering of his backers in the capital Santiago, many draped in Chilean flags, chanting and taking selfies, there was jubilation as the results came through.
I'm happy we can recover the country's security and patriotism, said Augustina Trancoso, donning a red Make Chile Great Again cap.
Throughout the campaign, Kast portrayed Chile as a country that was descending into chaos and insecurity. He pledged to restore order and crack down on irregular immigration, as well as implementing sharp spending cuts.
Kast is an admirer of Donald Trump, who is likely to become a close ally, and his policies echo those of the US president. He has pledged a border wall on Chile's porous frontier with Peru and Bolivia, maximum-security prisons, and mass deportations of irregular migrants, many of whom are from Venezuela.
Chile is one of the safest and more stable countries in South America, but a rise in immigration and organized crime in recent years has concerned many voters. Kast regularly drew links between the two.
Kast has also been firmly against abortion, even in cases of rape, and environmental protection policies.
His victory will likely be welcomed by investors as he has pledged a free-market approach to economics to shrink the state and deregulate certain industries.
This was the first presidential election in Chile where voting was mandatory and registration was automatic for those eligible. Kast's victory in Chile follows a string of elections in Latin America that have shifted the region to the right in recent years.
He will be inaugurated on 11 March 2026. At rallies, he regularly counted down the days until this date warning undocumented immigrants that they should leave before then if they ever want the chance to return.
