Chile

• Wednesday, March 11th 2026 - 20:19 UTC

  Chile: José Antonio Kast sworn in as president in conservative shift after Boric

  

  José Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile’s president on Wednesday in a ceremony at the National Congress in Valparaíso, in a transfer of power that confirmed the country’s sharpest shift to the right since the return to democracy in 1990. Senate President Paulina Núñez administered the oath and placed the presidential sash on him, formalizing the handover from Gabriel Boric.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2026 - 04:15 UTC

  Boric leaves office defending his record and acknowledging mistakes

  

  In his final national address before handing the presidential sash to José Antonio Kast on Wednesday, Chilean President Gabriel Boric defended his government’s record, highlighted progress in security, pensions and healthcare, and accepted political responsibility for two of the most damaging episodes of the final stretch of his administration: the handling of the Monsalve case and the failed purchase of former President Salvador Allende’s house.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2026 - 04:03 UTC

  Chile: Kast arrives at La Moneda with a 90-day plan focused on security, fiscal cuts and migration

  

  José Antonio Kast will be sworn in as Chile’s president on Wednesday with a pledge to lead an “emergency government” focused on security, the economy and migration control, as he seeks to turn his electoral mandate into early, visible action. His team has drafted a first 90-day roadmap combining administrative measures, regulatory changes and an initial batch of bills meant to show movement from the outset.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2026 - 03:55 UTC

  Lula withdraws from Kast inauguration amid presence of Flávio Bolsonaro

  

  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has canceled a planned trip to Chile to attend José Antonio Kast’s inauguration on Wednesday and will instead be represented at the ceremony by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Brazilian officials said the change was due to “scheduling reasons.”

• Wednesday, March 11th 2026 - 03:49 UTC

  María Corina Machado arrives in Chile for Kast’s inauguration and meeting with Venezuelan migrants

  

  Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has arrived in Chile to attend Wednesday’s ceremony in which Gabriel Boric will hand over the presidency to José Antonio Kast, in a visit that also includes an event with Venezuelan residents in Santiago and several public appearances in the capital. She is among the international guests invited to the transfer of power, where Kast will formally take office at Congress in Valparaíso.

• Monday, March 9th 2026 - 10:56 UTC

  Women’s Day rallies in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay focused on femicide, austerity and public funding

  

  International Women’s Day rallies in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay this weekend produced a shared Southern Cone agenda: opposition to gender-based violence, demands for sustained public policies and warnings about the impact of economic strain and state cutbacks on women’s lives. In Brazil, the message centered on rising femicide; in Argentina, on a strike-backed protest against President Javier Milei’s austerity drive; and in Uruguay, on demands for more funding to enforce gender-violence laws and renewed attention to vicarious violence.

• Thursday, March 5th 2026 - 22:19 UTC

  Trump to gather 12 aligned Latin American leaders in Florida, with Mexico, Brazil and Colombia absent

  

  U.S. President Donald Trump will host leaders from 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries in Doral, Florida, on March 7 for the so-called Shield of the Americas Summit, a meeting the White House is framing as a forum on security, migration and hemispheric cooperation. The gathering comes amid a broader U.S. diplomatic and military push in the region and just weeks before Trump is expected to travel to China.

• Tuesday, March 3rd 2026 - 15:14 UTC

  Chile: Kast halts transition talks with Boric, citing lack of trust over China-linked subsea cable briefings

  

  Chile’s president-elect José Antonio Kast said on Tuesday he is suspending the handover process with outgoing President Gabriel Boric, arguing his team cannot trust the information it has received on key issues, including a China-linked subsea fiber-optic project that would connect central Chile with Hong Kong.

• Monday, March 2nd 2026 - 02:00 UTC

  One dead, one injured in fan-group clash ahead of Colo Colo–Universidad de Chile Superclásico in Santiago

  

  At least one football fan was killed and another was injured on Sunday in Santiago, Chile, during a confrontation between supporter groups linked to Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile, hours before the country’s 199th Superclásico at the Monumental stadium, according to police and medical information carried by EFE.

• Saturday, February 28th 2026 - 23:16 UTC

  Chile: undersea cable dispute triggers US visa curbs, leaves Kast to decide on China Mobile project

  

  With Chile’s presidential handover set for March 11, outgoing President Gabriel Boric is closing his term amid a diplomatic dispute with the United States over a China Mobile-backed undersea fiber-optic cable project that would link Chile’s coast in the Valparaíso region to Hong Kong—an issue now landing on president-elect José Antonio Kast’s desk.