Right at the helm: why a Pinochet supporter won the elections in Chile

The far-right politician Jose Antonio Cast won the presidential election in Chile. He promised to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants and build walls on the borders. His victory has already been called the most noticeable shift to the right since the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. What determined the voting results and why right—wing forces are gaining more and more popularity in the world - in the Izvestia article

Chilean Trump

Jose Antonio Cast is one of the most prominent representatives of the right—wing forces in Chile. He consistently criticizes abortion and same-sex marriage, and does not hide his sympathy for the methods of General Pinochet's rule. He will turn 60 next January.

On Sunday, December 14, 58% of citizens voted for him during the second round of the presidential election. His rival, Communist Party representative Jeannette Hara, scored 42%.

In Chile, his victory was greeted with enthusiasm. According to local media, about 20,000 people gathered near the headquarters of the Republican Party, founded by Kast.

"Whoever doesn't jump for joy is on the left!" his supporters chanted. People waved national flags, motorists honked incessantly, and red caps with the inscription "Make Chile great again" appeared on sale, similar to the slogan of Donald Trump.

Speaking to supporters, Kast promised: "I will be president for everyone without exception." "Chile needs decent jobs back in the country, order in the streets, in the state, in the priorities that were overlooked. There is no peace without security, there is no democracy without peace, there is no freedom without democracy," he said.

The term of office of the President in Chile is four years, while re-election without interruption is prohibited. For this reason, the current head of state, Gabriel Boric, did not participate in the elections. Jeannette Hara conceded defeat, saying that "democracy has spoken loudly and clearly."

His victory was positively received in the USA. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated the newly elected President of Chile. And he added: "America looks forward to working closely with the new leadership of the country to deepen the partnership."

High expectations

Kast's main election theme was security. He promised a tough fight against criminal gangs, the construction of high-security prisons and the deportation of more than 300,000 illegal migrants, mostly from Venezuela.

As Lyudmila Dyakova, a leading researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes in an interview with Izvestia, his program included economic pragmatism with harsh rhetoric.

— He spoke about the need for changes in the economy and politics, strengthening market mechanisms, supporting entrepreneurship, reducing taxes for small and medium-sized businesses and targeting working people. At the same time, Kast emphasized the preservation of social programs for the poor, but without a radical redistribution of resources, for which the state does not yet have the funds.

Migration policy occupied a special place in his program. First of all, Kast promised the voters to carry out mass deportations. However, it remains unclear what this will look like in practice. This gave his opponents a reason to criticize and accuse him of populism.

— Jeannette Hara, for example, pointed out that one plane can carry about a hundred people, and it is almost impossible to deport hundreds of thousands in this way. In response, Kast repeated that he would act harshly and decisively. But he promised to develop specific mechanisms later.

The expert emphasizes that, despite the victory, it will be difficult for Kastu to implement the most radical initiatives. Modern Chilean society remains largely moderately centrist, and almost half of the voters support leftist forces. This means that it will be extremely difficult to maintain influence without seeking broad public support and a moderate course.

— His specific steps as president will become clear only after he takes office. The challenge for the Cast is to act decisively, but not in the way Pinochet did. Although he is often called a "pinocheteer," this definition is not entirely correct. He certainly cannot afford an authoritarian style of government. Kast is well aware that almost half of the population supports leftist forces, and this factor will limit his actions.

The global trend

According to Lyudmila Dyakova, the convincing victory of the right was a direct result of the failures of the policy of the administration of Gabriel Boric, a representative of the "new left wave" in Latin America.

— Under his government, public safety problems have worsened: in five years, the flow of illegal migration across the northern borders has increased, drug trafficking has increased, and drug trafficking has become a serious problem for the country. For several years in a row, economic growth did not exceed 2% per year, which for Chile, accustomed to 5-7% rates in the 1990s and early 2000s, is perceived as a serious setback, the expert notes.

According to her, this caused disappointment in society, both among those who supported Borich initially, and among those who opposed the strengthening of the multicultural agenda from the very beginning.

— Now many Chilean analysts, including those with right-wing views, emphasize that it is important for Caste not to repeat the mistake of Boric and the New Left, who, having come to power, began to act too radically. They quickly alienated moderate and wavering voters, primarily the middle class. If Kast does not take this lesson into account, his popularity may decline rapidly, despite strong parliamentary support," Dyakova warns.

At the same time, Kast's victory fits into a broader regional trend of increasing popularity of right-wing forces in Latin America. So, in Argentina, Javier Miley came to power in 2023, and in Ecuador, the current head of state, Daniel Noboa, won the second round of the presidential election.

The growth of their popularity is explained by several factors at once, says Evgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute of Political Expertise, Izvestia. And first of all, the so—called Trump factor played a role - his return to politics set the global trend of right-wing leaders.

Secondly, there is a noticeable crisis of leftist ideas, especially in their dogmatic and ideologized form. Leftist forces in Chile have also focused excessively on understanding Pinochet's legacy, while a significant part of society expects solutions to specific economic and social problems. It was the combination of these factors that led to the right turn in Chile," the expert concluded.