The far-right José Antonio Kast assumed the Presidency of Chile this Wednesday in a solemn ceremony in the coastal city of Valparaíso, attended by parliamentarians from all parties and about a dozen heads of state and government from around the world, including King Felipe VI of Spain and Argentine President Javier Milei. "Yes, I swear," said the former ultracatholic deputy, who at 60 years old becomes the first far-right president to come to power since the return to democracy. In the Hall of Honor of the Senate, the new president of the Upper House, conservative Paulina Nuñez, imposed the presidential sash and the O'Higgins medal on Kast, who succeeds the progressive Gabriel Boric. The lawyer is also the first democratic president to back the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), as the only conservative who had governed until now was Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014 and 2018-2022), who voted against the continuation of the regime in the 1989 plebiscite. In addition to Milei and the Spanish monarch, 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 attended the ceremony. The surprise came from the Brazilian leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who suspended his participation at the last minute due to scheduling problems, although according to the Brazilian press, the cancellation was due to the presence of Flávio Bolsonaro at the ceremony, whom he considers his main rival in the October elections and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted coup d'état. Also attending is the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and Nobel Peace Prize winner, María Corina Machado. Hours earlier, at the official Cerro Castillo residence in neighboring Viña del Mar, Kast took an official photo with his cabinet, made up of 24 ministers, most of them without political experience, linked to the private sector and academia. His key ministers will be the ultraliberal economist Jorge Quiroz (Finance), the former prosecutor Trinidad Steinert (Public Security) and the former parliamentarian Claudio Alvarado (Interior). After the ceremony, Kast will offer a lunch to the foreign authorities who attended the change of command and, in the afternoon, will travel to Santiago to carry out his first official act in a capital school. Around 21:00 local time (00:00 GMT), Kast will deliver his first speech as a head of state from La Moneda, where he will make clear the priorities of the "Emergency Government" he has promised to install. Father of 9 children and a declared anti-abortionist, the ruler promised during the campaign that he will not wage the "cultural battle" on the issue of individual freedoms and sexual and reproductive rights, and will focus on the main concerns of Chileans: security, irregular migration and the economy. Kast, who will govern with the support of his party - the Republican Party - and the traditional right, will have to deal with a divided parliament without clear majorities.
