{"id":193931,"date":"2025-12-17T12:45:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ultra-conservative-wins-chile-election-will-be-most-right-wing-president-since-dictatorship-pbs\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T12:45:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:45:59","slug":"ultra-conservative-wins-chile-election-will-be-most-right-wing-president-since-dictatorship-pbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ultra-conservative-wins-chile-election-will-be-most-right-wing-president-since-dictatorship-pbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-conservative wins Chile election, will be most right-wing president since dictatorship – PBS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Isabel DeBre, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Isabel DeBre, Associated Press <\/a>
Nayara Batschke, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Nayara Batschke, Associated Press <\/a>
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SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) \u2014 Ultra-conservative Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast secured a thumping victory in Chile\u2019s presidential runoff election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the leftist governing coalition and setting the stage for the country\u2019s most\u00a0right-wing government\u00a0in 35 years of democracy.
With over 95% of the vote counted, Kast won more than 58% of the votes as Chilean voters overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport\u00a0hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status\u00a0and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America\u2019s most stable and prosperous nations.
READ MORE:<\/strong> Chile votes in polarized election after campaign focused on immigration and crime<\/a>
His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara who served as leftist President Gabriel Boric\u2019s popular labor minister, had just over 41% support.
\u201cDemocracy spoke loud and clear,\u201d Jara wrote on social media, saying that she called Kast to concede defeat and congratulate him on his successful campaign.
Kast\u2019s supporters erupted into cheers in the street, shouting his name and honking car horns.
His campaign spokesman, Arturo Squella, declared victory from the party headquarters in Chile’s capital of Santiago.
\u201cWe are very proud of the work we\u2019ve done,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe feel very responsible for this tremendous challenge of taking charge of the crises that Chile is going through.\u201d
Kast\u2019s election represents the latest in a string of votes that have turfed out incumbent governments across Latin America, vaulting mainly right-wing leaders to power from Argentina to Bolivia.
On the surface, the two candidates in this tense presidential runoff could not have been more different, fundamentally disagreeing on weighty matters of the economy, social issues and the very purpose of government.
A lifelong member of Chile\u2019s Communist Party who pioneered significant social welfare measures in Boric\u2019s government and hails from a working-class family that protested against the 1973-1990 military dictatorship, Jara was a dramatic foil to her rival.
Kast, in contrast, is a devout Catholic and father of nine whose German-born father was a registered member of Adolf Hitler\u2019s Nazi party and whose brother served in the dictatorship. He had previously struggled to win over moderate voters in two failed presidential bids.
His moral conservatism, including fierce opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion without exception, had been rejected by many in the increasingly socially liberal country. The admiration he has expressed for the bloody military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet also sparked widespread condemnation in his campaign against President Boric four years ago.
But in the past few years, fears about uncontrolled migration and organized crime have roiled the country. Enthusiasm for a hardline approach to crime spread, dominating the election and boosting Kast’s law-and-order platform.
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<\/use><\/svg>Left:<\/span> A screen shows early results as supporters of Jose Antonio Kast, presidential candidate of the far-right Republican Party of Chile, gather during the presidential runoff election, in Santiago, Chile, Dec. 14, 2025. Photo by Juan Gonzalez\/Reuters
By<\/span> Mar\u00eda Verza, Patricia Luna, Associated Press
By<\/span> Eva Vergara, Daniel Politi, Associated Press
By<\/span> Paola Flores, Daniel Politi, Associated Press
By<\/span> Eva Vergara, Daniel Politi, Associated Press
By<\/span> Eva Vergara, Daniel Politi, Associated Press
 Isabel DeBre, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Isabel DeBre, Associated Press <\/a>
Nayara Batschke, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Nayara Batschke, Associated Press <\/a>
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Your monthly donation keeps PBS News strong Isabel DeBre, Associated Press Isabel DeBre, Associated Press Nayara Batschke, Associated Press Nayara Batschke, Associated Press Leave your feedbackSANTIAGO, Chile (AP) \u2014 Ultra-conservative Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast secured a thumping victory in Chile\u2019s presidential runoff election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the leftist governing coalition and setting the stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-193931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}