Far-right leader José Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile’s president Wednesday in the Latin American nation’s most pronounced rightward shift since the return of democracy in 1990.
In his first speech as president, Kast said Chile has real adversaries, including “those who have sown terror in neighborhoods.”
Kast won his landslide election victory against communist candidate Jeannette Jara with the promise of fighting crime and curbing illegal immigration, similar to the aims of his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, another group of protesters marched against Kast and what they called American “imperialism.” Police closed several subway stations in downtown Santiago as a security measure.
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Kast Takes Office as Chile Marks Its Sharpest Shift to the Right Since Dictatorship
03/11/2026
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