The far right José Antonio Kast He won the second round of Chile’s presidential elections this Sunday and has consummated the country’s most pronounced political turn to the right since the end of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1990. The candidate of the Republican Party has won with an advantage of close to 20 points over the candidate of the left coalition, Jeannette Jaraon an election day that has been marked by high participation, after a deeply polarized campaign in which security and irregular migration have concentrated a good part of the debate.
With the scrutiny already completed, José Antonio Kast has obtained 58.61% of the votes compared to 41.39% for the candidate of the left coalition, Jeannette Jara, according to official data released by (Servel). In absolute terms, 10,380,322 valid votes have been counted, of which 6,084,364 have supported the Republican Party, led by Kast, while the other 4,295,958 have gone to Jara, former minister of the governments of Gabriel Boric and Michelle Bachelet. Beyond these data, the total votes cast have risen to 11,167,420, with 650,294 null votes, 5.82%, and 136,804 blank votes, 1.23%.
The wide margin with which the far-right Kast has achieved this historic victory in the second round of the presidential elections in Chile is the second largest since the return of democracy, only behind the electoral triumph with which Michelle Bachelet achieved the presidency in 2013, when she won by more than 24 points over the conservative Evelyn Matthei. In addition, at this year’s event, Kast has been imposed in the 16 regions of the country, including territories traditionally favorable to the leftsuch as Valparaíso or the Metropolitan Region. The extreme right has achieved strong support in the mining areas of the north and the agricultural regions of the south.
Jara and Boric recognize defeat
The candidate of the left coalition, Jeannette Jara, the winner a month ago of the first round of the presidential elections, has acknowledged her defeat with a message published on her social network account X, in which he pointed out that “democracy spoke loud and clear” this election Sunday. “I have just contacted the president-elect José Antonio Kast to wish him success for the good of Chile,” he said, before addressing his voters to assure that “we will continue working to advance a better life in our homeland.” “Together and standing, as we have always done,” he added.
In a subsequent speech, surrounded by the presidents of the left and center-left parties, Jeanette Jara admitted that “she did not get the result she wanted,” but claimed that “defeat is always brief.” The former candidate has also called to “keep alive” the “historic” coalition that she has led in these presidential elections and that has built Chilean progressivism, the largest in the history of the country. Furthermore, Jara has urged to “take care” of this broad alliance for the future.
For his part, the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, congratulated José Antonio Kast on his victory in a phone call broadcast live on television, in which he invited him to a breakfast this Monday at the La Moneda palace to launch the transition process. “Today I congratulate you because you have obtained a clear victory and have been elected president of the Republic of Chile. It is a great responsibility that must be approached with a lot of affection, humility and a lot of work,” said Boric, who has not been able to run for re-election and will leave power in March 2026.
The progressive president has made himself “available” to the former ultra-conservative deputy “to collaborate with the destinies of the country” and has stressed that the phone call “is not just a protocol act.” “One of the things that I have felt very strongly in these four years of Government is the deep value of the institutions, of democracy and, above all, of its people. I am very proud of democracy, regardless of those who celebrate and those who are sad. With democracy, Chile is proud,” said Gabriel Boric, who has also confirmed that he will facilitate the change of command on March 11 when he hands over to the far-right “a country on the march.”
Kast, founder of the Republican Party and former congressman, has built his victory on a hard-line discourse on public order and immigration, two issues that have dominated an almost single-issue campaign. Throughout his political career, the now president-elect has defended proposals such as the construction of border walls, the deployment of the Army in areas with high crime rates and the mass expulsion of migrants in an irregular situation.
Although Chile remains one of the safest countries in Latin America, violent crime has increased in recent years, driven by the implementation of organized crime networks and the use of irregular routes in the north of the country, bordering Peru and Bolivia. According to official data, the majority of migrants residing in an irregular situation in Chile come from Venezuela, a phenomenon that has fueled social unrest and has been central to Kast’s story.
The victory of the far-right is also part of a broader regional trend. With his arrival at La Moneda, Kast joins a list of conservative or far-right leaders who have recently won elections in Latin America, such as Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, Nayib Bukele in El Salvador or Javier Milei in Argentina. In Bolivia, the victory of centrist Rodrigo Paz in October ended almost two decades of socialist governments.
This has been Kast’s third presidential candidacy and his second time in a second round, after losing in 2021 to Gabriel Boric. At the time, many voters considered it too extreme. Four years later, increased concern about security and migration has expanded its electoral base, especially in regions of the mining north and agricultural south, although it has also managed to prevail in traditional left-wing bastions such as Valparaíso and the Metropolitan Region.
On election night, dozens of supporters gathered in front of Kast’s campaign headquarters in Santiago, waving Chilean flags. Some wore red caps with the motto “Make Chile Great Again.” Among them was Ignacio Segovia, a 23-year-old engineering student, who summed up his support for the winner: “I grew up in a quiet Chile, where you could go out on the street without worrying. Now you can’t go out in peace anymore.”
Despite the magnitude of the victory, Kast will face a complex institutional scenario. Congress appears divided and without clear majorities. Although right-wing parties have gained weight in both chambers, much of that progress corresponds to traditional conservative formations. The Senate is practically tied between left and right, while in the Chamber of Deputies the decisive vote is held by a populist formation, which anticipates difficulties in carrying out the most radical proposals of the program.
These include the creation of a police force modeled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service to speed up arrests and expulsions, as well as sharp cuts in public spending. Other initiatives, such as an eventual modification of abortion legislation, would require the support of more than half of Parliament, a threshold that today does not seem guaranteed.
On the economic level, the market reaction has been immediate. Chile, the world’s leading producer of copper and one of the main producers of lithium, has seen the peso, the stock market and the main stock index rise due to the expectation of a more favorable environment for the market and with less regulatory burden under the new Government.
Kast will assume the presidency on March 11, when he receives the presidential sash from Gabriel Boric. He will be the first openly Pinochet leader to reach La Moneda in democracy and he will do so after an election that redefines the Chilean political balance and opens a period of high institutional tension.
