By Alexander Villegas and Fabian Cambero
VALPARAISO/SANTIAGO, March 10 (Reuters) – Jose Antonio Kast is set to be sworn in as Chile’s next president on Wednesday, marking the country’s sharpest shift to the right in decades as the country follows the region’s recent conservative shift.
Leaders from around the Americas, including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Paraguay’s Santiago Pena have all flown in to Chile to attend the transfer of power ceremony in the coastal city of Valparaiso, where Congress is located.
Kast takes over from left-wing President Gabriel Boric, to whom he lost the 2021 election, at a time when Chileans are worried about rising crime and the economy.
Kast has promised to clamp down on migration and crime while boosting economic growth through deregulation, spending cuts and market-friendly policy. Chile is the world’s largest copper producer and Kast was elected during an economic upswing, but takes office as the Iran war rattles global markets.
The political transition also saw increased tensions between the incoming and outgoing administration over heightened pressure from the U.S. over a proposed Chinese undersea cable project.
“(Kast) will have to manage an increasingly challenging international geopolitical landscape,” said Guillermo Holzmann, a political analyst from the University of Valparaiso, noting economic risks from the Iran war, the U.S.’ security strategy in the region and China’s influence in Latin America.
“These decisions will require sophisticated diplomacy and strategic medium- and long-term vision.”
(Reporting by Alexander Villegas and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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