Overview
- José Antonio Kast won the presidential runoff about 58.2% to 41.8% over Jeannette Jara for the 2026–2030 term, with compulsory voting delivering the largest vote total on record.
- He pledges mass deportations, harsher security measures, roughly $6 billion in spending cuts, tax reductions, and expanded private involvement in lithium plus a partial privatization of Codelco.
- Policy execution faces headwinds as his bloc lacks a congressional majority, the Senate is split, the judiciary remains independent, and Peru has signaled it will not accept migrants expelled from Chile.
- Kast’s longstanding praise for Augusto Pinochet has intensified concerns over human rights and democratic norms, even as researchers note a persistent segment of Chileans who view the dictatorship positively.
- Chile’s result reinforces a regional turn to the right and could draw closer alignment with the United States, though analysts caution that external constraints, including IMF-style policies, may complicate economic goals.