As the minutes passed and supporters gathered to celebrate the victory of José Antonio Kast in the Chilean presidential elections, enthusiasm rose with shouts in a celebratory tone and accents contrary to the outgoing president, Gabriel Boric, and the left. “He who doesn’t jump is left-handed!” » and “Hake out! (as opponents of the Chilean president offensively call it)”, chanted the public who waited for hours for the victory speech of the winning right-wing candidate.
More than 20,000 people, most of them residents of the wealthy neighborhood of Las Condes, in the eastern sector of Santiago, arrived this Sunday afternoon near the headquarters of the Republican Party, the far-right party founded by Kast. The audience – young people, families with children, couples and the elderly – mainly waved Chilean flags, but also campaign emblems of the now president-elect.
“I am delighted that a president like Kast has come out. It is a very big change. I hope that it will remove the resentment, the (existing) hatred and unite a little more the country, which is very dissociated”, declared María Jesús Barros, a 40-year-old psychologist, who arrived for the celebration of the victory of the Republican standard-bearer in the company of her two young daughters.
Dozens of street vendors took the opportunity to offer Chilean and country flags. Some, more creative, sold portraits of the future Chilean leader, already wearing the presidential sash, and even red caps reading Making Chile Great Againa local copy of Donald Trump’s campaign slogan to win the White House in 2016 and his movement’s acronym, MAGA.
“I came to celebrate the future president of Chile. I hope that with him there will be economic reactivation and greater security,” said Juan Manuel Martínez, a 52-year-old computer engineer. The errors came to light when Boric’s image appeared on the screens at the moment he called Kast and expressed his congratulations for his victory and for being his successor. And the applause was unanimous when a helicopter from the Carabineros – the police severely blamed by the repression during the social outbreak of 2019 – flew over the demonstration.
Kast will be the first president of Chile recognized as an admirer of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). The other right-wing head of state of the current democratic period, Sebastián Piñera, has always declared himself opposed to this government. That’s why some of the participants in Sunday’s celebratory rally showed emblems reminiscent of military rule, such as flags with the former dictator’s face. Curiously, the triumphant demonstration, which filled some streets of Presidente Errázuriz Avenue and Asturias Street, took place next to the house that Augusto Pinochet occupied for 25 years when he was commander in chief of the army, between 1973 and 1998.
Many of Kast’s supporters brought bottles of sparkling wine and wine glasses to celebrate the victory. This is the case of Maribel Saavedra, who jealously guarded her bottle and hoped to open it when the president-elect delivered his victory speech. “I hope that Kast controls immigration, because there is a huge disorder in the country and it is necessary to restore order,” said the 42-year-old social worker, referring to the 330,000 undocumented immigrants residing in Chile.
Not all participants came from wealthy areas of the city. They also came from further afield, like Ximena Campos, a 68-year-old owner, who moved when the first electoral counts were not yet announced. He did so from La Pintana, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago, south of the capital. “I came to celebrate the victory and now I hope he keeps what he promised,” she said, accompanied by her daughter.
Encouraged by the songs of the famous tropical cumbia singer Américo, especially by his theme you leavededicated by the public to Boric, who is due to hand over command on March 11, the spirit of the supporters did not waver despite the nearly three hours they had to wait to hear Kast’s speech, which lasted 54 minutes.
Besides the flags, many arrived wearing the shirt of The Redthe Chilean football team and the public united with one voice before the cry of “Chi, chi chi, le, le, le, long live Chile!”, but they also chanted the motto which recalls the years of dictatorship: “Chile is and will be a free country!”
The audience interrupted parts of Kast’s speech. There were even blunders when the president-elect nominated the defeated candidate, Jeannette Jara. But he stopped them short, with the phrase: “Respect and silence”. In any case, the euphoria did not diminish to the point that a member shouted: “I love you, president”, which provoked laughter from the audience and from the president-elect himself.
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