-Analysis-
PARIS — José Antonio Kast, the winner of the Chilean presidential election, has a style reminiscent of Donald Trump or Argentina’s Javier Milei. On immigration and security, his two favorite topics, the far-right candidate was in tune with the president’s most radical rhetoric, which is emblematic of the Western Hemisphere’s shift to the right.
But first, we must delve into Chilean history. We need to try to explain how, 51 years after General Augusto Pinochet’s military coup against Salvador Allende, Chile was able to elect someone who is nostalgic for dictatorial rule — and with a notable majority of 58% of the vote.
He is the first Chilean president to have voted in favor of extending Pinochet’s term of office in 1988, during the famous referendum that ended the dictatorship. Until now, all presidents, both right-wing and left-wing, had participated in the epic “no” campaign, immortalized in Pablo Larrain’s film “No.” During his first election campaign in 2017, Kast even declared that if Pinochet were still alive, he would have voted for him.
Chile has had a turbulent political history in recent years. A deep and violent social crisis in 2019 brought to power an alliance of left-wing forces behind former student leader Gabriel Boric. This victory, born of enthusiasm, gradually gave way to stagnation.
Complex and utopian
An attempt to reform Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution failed, with the constituent assembly producing a text that was too complex and utopian. The left has not recovered from this failure and, above all, has been unable to respond to the two issues that dominated the campaign: immigration and growing insecurity.
The united left’s candidate, Jeannette Jara, from the Communist Party, came out on top in the first round, but without a clear majority. The Communist label still has a scarecrow effect in Chile: she had no chance of winning, despite her overtures to the populist candidate who arrived third, Franco Parisi.
Kast promises an iron fist on immigration and security issues. Emboldened by the behavior of Trump and Millei, he has promised to deploy the army to the borders to combat illegal immigration, to carry out mass expulsions of undocumented Venezuelans and Colombians, and to build more prisons, following the example of Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador.
The son of a German immigrant who was a member of the Nazi party.
It speaks volumes about the climate of our times that promises like these can win elections in both the North and the South, in the Americas and Europe. It is first and foremost a failure on the part of those who have been unable to respond to these challenges while remaining within the bounds of the rule of law.
Law and order
Kast is inspired by the contradictory concept of “protected democracy” developed by Jaime Guzman, the ideologue of the Pinochet era.
Kast is also an ultra-conservative, a father of nine children who is hostile to women’s rights. But he kept these issues quiet during the campaign. He is the son of a German immigrant who was a member of the Nazi party in his day, and he presents himself first and foremost as a man of law and order; and that is what enabled him to win.
This is a lesson for Chile, but also, without a doubt, for the rest of the world.
