Chile is perceived by many of its neighbors in Latin America as a safer, more stable haven. But inside the country, that perception has unraveled as voters worried about security, immigration, and crime chose José Antonio Kast to be their next president. Kast is a hardline conservative who has praised General Augusto Pinochet, Chile's former right-wing dictator whose US-backed coup ushered in 17 years of military rule marked by torture, disappearances, and censorship.
To his critics, Kast's family history, including his German-born father's membership in the Nazi Party and his brother's time as a minister under Pinochet, is unsettling. However, some of Kast's supporters openly defend Pinochet's rule, arguing that Chile was more peaceful then. In a nod to Chile's past and to accusations levelled at other right-wing leaders in the region after they imposed military crackdowns on organized crime, Kast pledged in his first speech as president-elect that his promise to lead an emergency government would not mean authoritarianism.
Sunday's election makes Chile the latest country in Latin America to decisively swing from the left to the right, following Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Panama. Peru, Colombia, and Brazil face pivotal elections next year. Kast's victory positions Chile within a growing bloc of conservative governments likely to align with recent US policies on migration and security.
Kast, who promised a border wall and mass deportations of undocumented migrants, resonated in a country that has experienced rapid growth in its foreign-born population, with nearly two million non-nationals living in Chile as of 2023. Government estimates suggest there are about 336,000 undocumented migrants, many from Venezuela.
The alarming speed of this demographic change has unsettled many Chileans, with some voters attributing rising crime to immigration, even as national murder rates have decreased in recent years. For supporters like Jeremías Alonso, a Kast supporter, this rhetoric is seen as necessary and reinforces the idea that proper immigration should occur through legal channels.
Others, like Gabriel Funez, a Venezuelan migrant, are left fearing both deportation and a rise in xenophobia amidst Kast's victory. As migrants are increasingly integral to the workforce, Kast faces potential opposition from those reliant on foreign labor, presenting a challenge to his hardline policies.
Kast's administration may face difficulties with implementation; for instance, Venezuela currently does not accept deportees, complicating efforts for mass expulsion. Nevertheless, the political landscape in Latin America indicates a shift towards conservative populism, with significant implications for immigration, security, and national identity.
