Right-wing politician Kast wins presidential election in Chile
The German-born right-wing politician José Antonio Kast has won the presidential election in Chile. The Republican Party candidate received just under 59 percent of the vote in the run-off election, as the electoral office announced after 83 percent of the votes had been counted.
14.12.2025, 23:58
SDA
The communist government candidate Jeannette Jara congratulated Kast on his election victory by telephone, as she announced on the X platform. She received around 41 percent of the vote.
The South American country is therefore facing a shift to the right. The election campaign to succeed the left-wing incumbent President Gabriel Boric focused on the issues of crime and migration. Boric was unable to run again for constitutional reasons.
Kast, a father of nine and a devout Catholic, comes from an influential family. Several of the 59-year-old right-wing politician's siblings were members of parliament or senators like him, and one brother served as president of the central bank during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. His father - a former Wehrmacht officer and NSDAP member from Bavaria - emigrated to Chile after the Second World War and founded a factory for meat and sausage products there.
Kast wants to secure borders and deport migrants
Although Chile is still one of the safest countries in the region, crime has increased in some areas. In addition, the proportion of migrants in Chile has recently risen to around ten percent of the population - the majority of whom come from the crisis-hit country of Venezuela.
Kast has announced a crackdown on crime and illegal migration. The lawyer wants to tighten border security, make irregular entry a criminal offense and deport undocumented migrants. He also announced plans to build new prisons. In order to boost the economy, Kast wants to lower corporate taxes and significantly reduce public spending. He takes office on March 11, 2026.
