Perspectives from Chile: Is Kast the new 'Poster Boy' of the Latin American right?

Santiago, Chile: May 2026
Jeremy Browne, CEO, Canning House

Arriving in Santiago, having prepared by reading British newspaper insights into new Chilean President, Jose Antonio Kast, it was impossible not to feel some trepidation.

He has, I was warned, been "widely praised by leaders of the global right", including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and is "the son of a Nazi party member, a father of nine, and a staunch Catholic". "What we are seeing with Kast is a return to the origins of a right that clearly did not have democratic credentials", according to Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, a Chilean populism researcher.

It is worryingly reminiscent of the warnings that preceded the election of Italian President Giorgio Meloni, and her direct lineage back to "Mussolini's fascists".

Not being a fascist, and admiring Chile's record within Latin America as a relatively prosperous and safe country, this level of seeming regression since my last visit - in the distant past of 2012 - was alarming. Praised by Marco Rubio! A Catholic!

I had come to Santiago to better understand President Kast's domestic agenda for Chile, and whether his election has a wider significance for the ideological balance across Latin America.

President Kast won with 58 per cent of the votes, in a right versus left run-off. It was a clear endorsement and mandate, but with sizeable minority support for an alternative vision for Chile. So far; so conventional.

And it is hard to conclude, speaking with Chileans holding varying perspectives, that Kast is not, in essence, a conventional leader from the right.

He favours lower taxes, public spending restraint and measures designed to incentivise enterprise and inward investment. Those might not be the priorities of those who favour a bigger state, but they are mainstream and orthodox ideas.

Far from being an inflammatory extremist, the picture painted of Kast is more commonly of a mildly technocratic, business-friendly figure, wanting to prioritise balancing the books and increasing the economic growth rate. Chile is not widely seen as particularly colourful or outrageous; nor, judging by multiple accounts, is their President.

Where Kast has been more radical, in a country whose geography can engender a sense of insularity, is making strong campaign commitments to be tough on immigration, reminiscent, for some, of the rhetoric of President Trump.

The context is important. Chileans enjoy levels of safety and security more typical of an average European nation than of their Latin American counterparts. They, understandably, value their comparative status. Significant immigration from Peru, Bolivia (some of which is seasonal labour) and, most particularly, Venezuela, is central to the national debate. The specific anxiety is the importation of higher levels of serious criminality; the more general concern is that newcomers will not adapt to the Chilean national mindset.

But the widespread criticism of President Kast appears not to be that he is a heartless authoritarian, sweeping the dispossessed out of Chile. The opposite view is far more common. That Kast promised big on cracking down on immigration and has so far delivered small. And that the rise in imported criminal networks, of the type that have swept through previously safe Ecuador, do present a real threat to Chilean stability and the way of life, which has so far not been met with a sufficiently commensurate response from President Kast. This view is not exclusive to those on the right.

There is an ideological cleavage in Latin America. Brazil and Mexico have centre-left leaders; Colombia's President is further left. President Milei of Argentina is the star of a somewhat ideologically disparate but growing right, which includes the Presidents of Ecuador and Paraguay. President Kast is recognisably part of this grouping and phenomenon, which may make further progress, or have its momentum dramatically stalled, in a series of big Latin American elections throughout this year. The flames are fanned too by President Trump, muscular in his 'back yard', and partisan in his preference for ideological soul-mates.

Is Kast the new 'Poster Boy' of the Latin American right? Chile's Milei?

Not on the basis of the conversations that I had in Santiago. Yes, he is identifiably in this 'family' on the right. Yes, he represents a clear departure from his left-wing predecessor, President Boric. But will he be a dramatic international actor? Will he be a flamboyant champion of the right in the mould of Milei? Will he make waves and attract disproportionate attention to Chile, both positive and critical? It is hard to see it.

Chile is, by Latin American standards, a somewhat reserved country. Its 'brand' is reassuring functionality. And Kast's international profile seems likely to be compatible with his nation's profile. In so much as he adopts international postures, they are most likely to be tempered by some restraint.

He met, cordially by all accounts, early in his tenure with Brazil's President Lula, the biggest figure on Latin America's left. He is pragmatic towards China, the number one trading partner of Chile as a bulk-buyer of critical minerals. At the same time, Chile sits, inevitably, within a sphere of US cultural and economic leadership. And it maintains a fraternal respect for Britain, admiring our history, institutions and military.

Chile does not represent Latin America in its fullest technicolour. Tourists may sometimes prefer those countries that do. The past is always present in Chilean political debate, but the country now stands for a reassuring and pragmatic version of Latin America. Recognisably part of its continent in its traditions, language and culture, but a restrained version. Sometimes that model of Chile has broken down and radicalism has manifested itself, but there remains a sense that over recent decades Chile reverts to a moderate mean.

The left in Chile were in the ascendant five years ago. Loudly and visibly. The right are stronger now. But President Kast does not appear to exhibit the traits of an insurgent disruptor. The country does not feel like it is descending into dictatorship. Chile seems instead, to this observer, to be a mainstream democracy, able to transfer power between differing, but both legitimate, visions for the country.