Right-wing candidate Kast wins Chile presidential election

Chilean voters have elected the most right-wing president in 35 years of democracy on Sunday, with official results showing Far-right Jose Antonio Kast with a thumping victory, and his rival quickly conceding defeat.

With about 80 percent of the votes counted, Kast had 58 percent of the vote, an unassailable lead over Jeannette Jara, a Communist Party member heading a broad leftist coalition.

In central Santiago, Kast supporters beeped car horns, waved flags and cheered a man who once openly defended the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Kast campaigned on promises to expel hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, close the northern border, tackle high rates of violent crime and restart a stalled economy.

Once one of the safest and most prosperous countries in the Americas, Chile has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, violent social protests and an influx of organised crime groups.

"I have high expectations that he will fix the immigration issue," said 42-year-old social worker Maribel Saavedra.

It is the latest victory for Latin America's right, after winning elections in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador.

For Kast, a 59-year-old father of nine, it was a lucky third attempt for the presidency.

Jara called Kast to concede defeat. She said on X shortly after the first results were released, adding that voters had spoken "loud and clear."

The top issue

After casting his vote near Santiago and taking a selfie with supporters, Kast promised to seek unity after a sometimes bitter campaign: "The winner will have to be the president of all Chileans."

Polls show more than 60 percent of Chileans thought security is the top issue facing the country - far eclipsing issues like the economy, healthcare or education.

And while statistics show that violent crime has risen in the last 10 years, fears about crime have risen even faster.

Jara led the first round of voting in November, but right-wing candidates garnered a majority of the vote.

The 51-year-old's stint as labour minister under outgoing President Gabriel Boric has proven to be an Achilles' Heel.

Boric's term was crippled by repeated failed attempts to reform the Pinochet-era constitution.

Since 2010, Chileans have alternated between left- and right-wing governments at every presidential election.

In this election, voting is compulsory for the first time in more than a decade. Almost 16 million citizens are registered to vote.

___

Source: TRT