Right-wing president will govern with a majority in the Chilean Congress; Lula gave up going to the ceremony
(Republican Party, right) takes office as president of Chile this Wednesday (11.Mar.2026). The ceremony will be held at the Chilean Congress, in Valparaíso, at 12 pm (Brasília time).
The president (PT) had confirmed his presence at the inauguration ceremony, but without explaining the reason. The person representing Brazil is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, . The president of Argentina, (La Libertad Avanza, right), and (Partido Colorado, right), president of Paraguay, will also be present.
The senator and pre-candidate for Planalto (PL) who will attend Kast’s inauguration. The son of the former president (PL) has strengthened his name as a right-wing candidate.
Kast’s inauguration consolidates political alternation in Chile. The event should attract right-wing leaders from all over Latin America after the administration of (Frente Amplio, left) – Lula’s ally. It is a time of change on the Latin American political map.
The new Chilean president will have his term in office. This is because right-wing coalitions increased their benches and consolidated a majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the country’s Senate in the legislative election held on November 16.
However, Kast must face a more polarized Legislative Branch, since the increase in left and right benches came at the expense of the reduction of centrist forces in both the Chamber and the Senate. The new congressmen also take office this Wednesday (11 March), marking the beginning of a new political cycle in the country.
FIND OUT WHO JOSÉ ANTONIO KAST IS
Kast was born in Santiago on January 18, 1966. He is the youngest of 10 children of Michael Kast Schindele, a German soldier who joined the Nazi armed forces and, at the end of the Second World War, managed to emigrate to South America. His older brother, Miguel (Michael) Kast, studied economics in Chicago in the early 1970s and was minister of state and president of the Central Bank of Chile during the Augusto dictatorship Pinochet.
José Antonio Kast graduated as a lawyer from the Catholic University of Chile. In 1988, he participated in the campaign for the continuity of the Pinochet regime in the plebiscite that ended the dictatorship in the country. He was a candidate for president for the 3rd time – he tried in 2017 and . He was a deputy for 4 consecutive terms, from 2002 to 2018. In 2016, he left the Independent Democratic Union party and, in 2019, founded the Republican Party of Chile.
He was one of the main opponents of the 1st proposal, in 2022, which was led by left-wing parties. Afterwards, he was also against the 2nd attempt, even though his party had a majority in the constituency.
From 2022 to 2024, he presided over , an international political organization that opposes abortion, euthanasia, genetic manipulation, surrogacy (when a woman carries a baby for another person or couple) and same-sex marriage.
The main points of his campaign were public safety and immigration.
In his government, Kast defends the fight against organized crime and the control of migration to increase security. The measures include closing borders to undocumented immigrants, criminalizing irregular immigration, building walls and expanding prisons – proposals that echo policies adopted by right-wing governments such as Donald Trump, in the United States, and Nayib Bukele, in El Salvador.
The politician also wants to reduce taxes for large and medium-sized companies, reform pensions, cut public spending and form public-private partnerships in the areas of health, education and housing.
