Valparaíso, Chile (EFE).- The right-wing politician José Antonio Kast was inaugurated on Wednesday in a solemn ceremony in Valparaíso, attended by parliamentarians from all parties and a dozen heads of state and government from around the world, including King Felipe VI of Spain and Argentine President Javier Milei.
Kast, 60, who succeded President Gabriel Boric (2022-2026), is the first far-right politician to reach the presidency since Chile’s return to democracy.
Kast is also the first president in the democratic era to endorse the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990), a regime established after the United States-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende on Sep. 11, 1973, placing the country under the rule of a military junta led by General Augusto Pinochet.
The only conservative presidents who had governed up until now was Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014 and 2018–2022), who voted against the regime’s continuation in the 1989 plebiscite.
Wednesday’s ceremony was attended by the presidents of Ecuador (Daniel Noboa), Bolivia (Rodrigo Paz), Panama (José Raúl Mulino), Honduras (Nasry Asfura), Costa Rica (Rodrigo Chaves), Paraguay (Santiago Peña), and Uruguay (Yamandú Orsi), as well as the Spanish monarch and Milei.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surprised everyone by suspending his participation at the last minute due to scheduling conflicts.
However, according to the Brazilian press, the cancellation was actually due to the presence of Flávio Bolsonaro, considered Lula da Silva’s main rival in the Oct. 2025 elections, and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup against Lula.
Also in attendance was María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Hours earlier, at the official residence of Cerro Castillo in neighboring Viña del Mar, Kast posed for an official photo with his cabinet of 24 ministers, mostly without prior political experience, and linked to the private sector and academia.
His key ministers include the ultra-liberal economist Jorge Quiroz (Treasury), former prosecutor Trinidad Steinert (Security), and former parliamentarian Claudio Alvarado (Interior).
After the ceremony, Kast will host a luncheon for the foreign dignitaries who attended the change of command. In the afternoon, he will travel to Santiago to perform his first official act at a school in the capital.
At around 9:00 pm local time, Kast will deliver his inaugural address from La Moneda, where he will outline the priorities of the “emergency government” he has promised to establish.
A father of nine and a vocal anti-abortionist, Kast promised during the campaign that he would not engage in the “cultural battle” over individual freedoms, sexual and reproductive rights, and that he would focus on the main concerns of Chileans: security, irregular migration, and the economy.
Kast will govern with the support of his party, the Republican Party, and the traditional right, but will have to deal with a divided parliament without clear majorities.EFE
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