President-elect José Antonio Kast will visit Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on Monday; This is his second international trip since his resounding victory at the polls on December 14. The first went to Argentina by the libertarian Javier Milei, with whom the Republican maintains great harmony, to mainly address economic and immigration issues. The purpose of the meeting with Noboa is to discuss security in the most violent country in Latin America (it records a rate of 38 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants). “Organized crime operates throughout Latin America. And it’s trans crime. They don’t respect borders, flags or laws. We need to unite on this,” he told Channel 13 in his first television interview since his victory.
Asked about the discursive turn of his first words as winner on the evening of the second round, where he spoke of seeking agreements and respecting opposing positions, Kast argued that the presidential campaign was over and that to move forward it was necessary to “find peace in Chile” and that this was achieved by clarifying that there was an elected government that had “significant force” and that there was an opposition that must be “respected.” The far-right Republican Party has not signed up to agreements such as the plebiscite on a new Constitution, pension reform or the law on the 40-hour work week. “We didn’t want agreements because we thought that in certain agreements, pseudo-chords“They did not benefit the citizens,” he said.
One of the messages that Kast has tried to convey is the stamp of “austerity” that he intends to imbue into his future mandate. In addition to his intention to live in La Moneda to give a symbolic signal, attention is focused on the measures he will adopt to achieve the $6 billion tax cut in 18 months and whether it will affect people’s pockets. “We have indicated that we are not going to touch any acquired rights,” he assured, “but there are complex situations that we must improve for Chile to grow, such as investment.” “We will maintain all the social benefits that are planned, but I must maintain them in cash, I must guarantee that they are permanent over time,” he added.
In addition to banking on growth and investment to maintain social benefits, the Republican declared that they would be guaranteed “with order”. “What is happening today in the State is disorder, and in disorder there can be corruption, complex situations to be able to program a budget,” he illustrated. Regarding his availability to agree with the formations of the future opposition, he declared that to “improve security, we need agreements with all the sectors that want the security of Chile”, to improve security at the borders, in ports, airports and prisons.
Kast won the second round with 58.1% of the vote, compared to 41.8% for left-wing candidate Jeannette Jara. In the first presidential election with compulsory voting, he became the president elected with the greatest number of votes in history (7.2 million). “These are not votes from José Antonio Kast, these are not votes from the Republican Party. These are votes from people in distress and who were looking for an alternative path,” he said. In this sense, they asked you, are you starting to represent these votes that we call votes cast? “Absolutely, I would never say that these votes are personal,” he replied. Regarding whether he will pull members of Congress to form his future cabinet, Kast left the door open and said that “if necessary, we will raise it in the best way for the citizens.”
The start of the second week as president-elect will follow the path of an intense agenda. It is only in the morning that Kast will meet the Comptroller General of the Republic, Dorothy Pérez, then the President of the Central Bank, Rossana Costa, and the advisors of the institution and around noon he will meet the double president of Chile, the socialist Michelle Bachelet. Since his election, the Republican has spoken twice by telephone with the former president, currently a candidate for the post of secretary general of the UN. It is unclear whether Kast will support her bid to lead the international organization. Kast has already announced that he will analyze the situation after discussing the issue with her. “The resolution does not need to be immediate. We will listen to all the basic information,” he stressed last week.
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