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José Antonio Kast Wins Chilean Presidency in Landslide, Marking a Regional Rightward Shift

The president-elect signals hardline migration measures, tougher security policies, plus pro‑market cuts, with Congress and courts set to test what he can enact.

Overview

  • Kast won the runoff roughly 58.2% to 41.8%, securing the largest presidential vote total recorded in Chile.
  • He has prioritized mass expulsions of undocumented migrants, a crime crackdown, and fiscal tightening including about $6 billion in budget cuts.
  • His economic plans include opening lithium to private investment and pursuing a partial privatization of state copper giant Codelco.
  • Analysts note he lacks a legislative majority and that key proposals face legal, congressional, and regional hurdles, with Peru already saying it will not accept deportees from Chile.
  • The result adds Chile to a bloc of nine right‑leaning governments in Latin America, a trend linked by observers to insecurity, weak growth and migration pressures, with potential for closer alignment with the United States.