{"id":4821,"date":"2026-03-12T14:14:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebulletinjournal.com\/?p=4821"},"modified":"2026-03-12T14:14:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:14:44","slug":"kast-takes-office-as-chile-shifts-sharply-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebulletinjournal.com\/?p=4821","title":{"rendered":"Kast Takes Office as Chile Shifts Sharply Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast<\/strong> was sworn in on Wednesday as <strong>Chile\u2019s new president<\/strong>, completing the country\u2019s most pronounced political swing to the right since democracy returned in <strong>1990<\/strong>. The inauguration took place at the <strong>National Congress in Valpara\u00edso<\/strong>, where Kast and his incoming Cabinet took their oaths after a landslide win in the <strong>2025 election<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inauguration Draws Regional Leaders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The ceremony brought a visible lineup of international guests, including <strong>Argentina\u2019s President Javier Milei<\/strong>, <strong>Panama\u2019s President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino<\/strong>, <strong>Ecuador\u2019s President Daniel Noboa<\/strong> and <strong>Spain\u2019s King Felipe VI<\/strong>. <strong>Mar\u00eda Corina Machado<\/strong>, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, also attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notable absences included <strong>Brazil\u2019s President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/strong> and <strong>El Salvador\u2019s President Nayib Bukele<\/strong>. The United States sent a modest delegation led by <strong>Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cabinet Named as Boric Exits Weakly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After Senate President <strong>Paulina N\u00fa\u00f1ez<\/strong> placed the presidential sash on Kast, the new administration confirmed key appointments. <strong>Jos\u00e9 Francisco P\u00e9rez Mackenna<\/strong> took office as chancellor, <strong>Mar\u00eda Trinidad Steinert<\/strong> became minister of security, and <strong>Fernando Rabat<\/strong> assumed the role of minister of justice and human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kast takes over from outgoing leftist president <strong>Gabriel Boric<\/strong>, who leaves office with historically low approval. A <strong>Cadem<\/strong> survey published this week said <strong>53%<\/strong> of respondents viewed Boric\u2019s government as the worst since the democratic transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crime, Migration and a U.S. Tilt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kast, a veteran conservative often compared to <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong>, defeated government-backed communist candidate <strong>Jeannette Jara<\/strong> in December, running on tougher policies on <strong>organized crime<\/strong> and <strong>illegal immigration<\/strong>. His agenda includes criminalizing illegal entry, expanding deportations and building border barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new president has also signaled a warmer posture toward Washington. His transition was strained by a dispute with the outgoing administration over a proposed <strong>submarine cable project linking Chile and China<\/strong>, an initiative that drew U.S. criticism and added to already tense relations under Boric. Trump has publicly shown preference for Kast, including inviting him to last weekend\u2019s <strong>\u201cShield of the Americas\u201d<\/strong> gathering in Miami alongside other right-leaning regional leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysts say the next test is governability. With a divided parliament, the administration\u2019s early momentum may determine whether lawmakers align or obstruct. <strong>Mariano Machado<\/strong> of <strong>Verisk Maplecroft<\/strong> said the first <strong>100 days<\/strong> will be decisive for establishing direction and political traction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast was sworn in on Wednesday as Chile\u2019s new president, completing the country\u2019s most pronounced political swing to the right since democracy returned in 1990. The inauguration took place at the National Congress in Valpara\u00edso, where Kast and his incoming Cabinet took their oaths after a landslide win in the 2025 election. Inauguration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1351,1352,1353,1354,1357,1350,1356,1359,1358,1355],"ppma_author":[42],"class_list":{"0":"post-4821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-cadem-survey","9":"tag-chile-election-2025","10":"tag-chile-president","11":"tag-gabriel-boric-approval","12":"tag-illegal-immigration-chile","13":"tag-jose-antonio-kast","14":"tag-organized-crime-chile","15":"tag-shield-of-the-americas-summit","16":"tag-us-chile-relations","17":"tag-valparaiso-inauguration"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kast Takes Office as Chile Shifts Sharply Right - The Bulletin Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thebulletinjournal.com\/?p=4821\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kast Takes Office as Chile Shifts Sharply Right - The Bulletin Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast was sworn in on Wednesday as Chile\u2019s new president, completing the country\u2019s most pronounced political swing to the right since democracy returned in 1990. The inauguration took place at the National Congress in Valpara\u00edso, where Kast and his incoming Cabinet took their oaths after a landslide win in the 2025 election. 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