José Antonio Kast Wins Chile Presidency, Vows to Expel Tens of Thousands of Undocumented Migrants and Praises Pinochet

José Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidential runoff on Dec. 14 with roughly 58% of the vote to Jeannette Jara’s about 42%.

“José Antonio Kast, an ultra‑conservative former lawmaker, won Chile’s presidential runoff with 58”

ABC News

Jeannette Jara conceded and outgoing president Gabriel Boric acknowledged the result by calling to congratulate Kast.

ABC News

Kast will be inaugurated on March 11, 2026.

Multiple outlets reported the margin and the rapid concession.

The Guardian gave the final tally as 58.16% to 41.84%.

AP News reported the wider result and described Kast as an ultra-conservative who framed the win as a mandate to restore "order."

BNO News and NPR also confirmed the outcome and concession.

The win ends years of left-of-center rule and is being read domestically and regionally as a sharp swing to the right.

Kast's campaign was dominated by hard-line public-security and immigration promises.

He vowed mass deportations, stricter border controls and tougher policing measures.

Al Jazeera

He told undocumented residents they must leave before he takes office or face deportation or prosecution.

News outlets highlighted those pledges, with KSAT and ABC News outlining plans for mass deportations, new maximum-security prisons and expanded police and military powers.

The Irish Times quoted his ultimatum to roughly 330,000 undocumented people that they should leave before March 11 or be expelled 'with only the clothes on their backs'.

CNN, BBC and France 24 noted proposals for an immigration enforcement force similar to U.S. ICE, border walls and emergency government powers.

Kast’s personal and family history and his praise for Augusto Pinochet were recurring focal points in coverage.

“José Antonio Kast won Chile’s presidency with 58”

Americas Quarterly

Multiple outlets described him as an admirer of the 1973-90 dictatorship, with The Guardian and France 24 explicitly calling him an admirer and the BBC and The Independent recalling the coup and related human‑rights abuses.

Several local and regional outlets reported media claims that his German-born father had been a Nazi party member, and Kast rebutted that his father was a forced conscript.

Rights advocates warned that Kast’s praise for Pinochet and past defenses of the dictatorship raise fears about historical memory, potential pardons for perpetrators, and rollbacks in accountability.

Analysts said Kast's victory was driven by public anxiety over security and migration.

Some data and commentators questioned how large those threats actually are.

Anadolu Ajansı

Analysts warned Kast will confront institutional limits.

Several outlets — BBC, DW and CNN — said fears over crime and irregular migration drove voters.

BBC and Folha de S.Paulo noted Chile's homicide rate remains relatively low.

Those outlets also pointed out Kast lacks a comfortable legislative majority, meaning many proposals will require negotiation.

Americas Quarterly and other profiles emphasized Kast's calmer, pragmatic victory speech and his need to build coalitions to govern.

Reactions were split: jubilant celebrations in wealthier districts and among right-wing supporters contrasted with alarm from rights groups, left-wing critics and some international observers.

“A mass shooting at Hanukkah celebrations on Sunday, 14 December, at Bondi Beach in Sydney killed more than a dozen people (reports say 12–15 fatalities)”

AnewZ

News outlets described supporters celebrating in Santiago and right-wing figures congratulating Kast, while human-rights campaigners and relatives of dictatorship victims warned that his praise of Pinochet and past calls to pardon agents convicted of crimes against humanity threaten memory and accountability.

AnewZ

Markets and some regional leaders reacted with cautious optimism about economic stability, but analysts warned that many of Kast's bolder promises could face legal, political and fiscal limits.