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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2026 - 12:17 UTC

Tag: Jose Antonio Kast

  • Thursday, March 12th 2026 - 10:45 UTC

    Chile's new era with Kast in power

    The new president’s arrival marks Chile’s sharpest move to the right since the end of the dictatorship. Photo: Elvis González/EFE

    Chile entered a new political phase on Wednesday with the inauguration of José Antonio Kast, the most conservative figure to reach La Moneda since the return to democracy. Kast was sworn in at Congress in Valparaíso and then moved to the presidential palace, where he defended the idea of an “emergency government” and said he was receiving “a country in worse conditions than we could have imagined.”

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

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

    Kast, 60, takes office after his landslide victory in the December 2025 runoff against Jeannette Jara, in an election shaped by concerns over crime, irregular migration and the economy

    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

    “I leave with my head held high and my hands clean,” Boric said in a live message from La Moneda palace on the night of March 10

    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

    Kast’s immediate test will be managing high expectations. A Cadem poll released in early March found that 57% of respondents believed Chile would do well under his administration

    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

    The reversal came hours after it emerged that Flávio Bolsonaro, a likely challenger to Lula in October’s presidential election, would attend the event as a guest

    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

    Beyond attending the inauguration, Machado has called Venezuelans in Chile to a Thursday afternoon gathering at Paseo Bulnes in downtown Santiago

    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.

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

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

    The summit follows a week in which senior Trump officials sharpened their rhetoric on Latin America

    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

    Kast said the incoming team had not been given adequate background not only on the cable initiative but also on the country’s fiscal situation and last-minute public-sector appointments

    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.

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

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

    Kast’s transition team has complained about a lack of information during the handover. Incoming Interior Minister said the episode left Chile “under crossfire” between two key partners

    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.

  • Wednesday, January 28th 2026 - 09:49 UTC

    Lula and Chile’s president-elect Kast meet for the first time in Panama ahead of ‘Latin Davos’ forum

    Kast argued that cooperation between Chile and Brazil “can lead the change our region needs”

    Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chile’s president-elect José Antonio Kast held their first bilateral meeting in Panama on Tuesday, shortly after arriving for the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean — an event promoted by organizers and regional media as a “Latin Davos.”