Unsurprisingly, José Antonio Kast was elected president of Chile. And it was washed, 58% against 42%. The question now is how Kast will govern.
The first point to note is that he comes from a much more radical right than that of Sebastián Piñera, who governed Chile twice after the country’s redemocratization in 1990. Kast is an open Pinochetist, he broke with the traditional right to found a party more vehement in the defense of conservative and ultra-Catholic agendas, one of those that opposes all methods of birth control. He has nine children.
Despite his CV, it would be hasty to assert that the future president will lead a disruptive government that threatens democracy, as Sylvia Colombo’s beautiful analysis shows.
In post-Pinochet Chile, moderation has prevailed until now. A good example is that of current President Gabriel Boric, elected by a left-wing coalition that seemed much more categorical than his government. Kast himself signaled during the campaign that he had no intention of tightening the rope. The most telling of these is that he has remained strategically silent on issues close to his heart, such as compulsory religious education or a total ban on abortion. He did this not because he stopped supporting these flags, but because he understood that insisting on them would not bring him to power.
Kast’s trajectory here recalls that of Lula, who only won the presidency on his fourth attempt (the third in the Chilean’s case). Defeats allowed them to learn to moderate their speech and, consequently, the commitments made. We should fear candidates who appear out of nowhere, like Trump or Milei, more than those who have already been marinated in many elections. Bolsonaro is also a creation of the system, but he has only served as a deputy, elected under a proportional voting rule that rewards radical speech, as opposed to majority votes.
Kast’s first actions as president will show whether, in Chile, the system is still capable of promoting moderation.
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