The president-elect of Chile, José Antonio Kast, on Tuesday called Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro a 'narcodictator' in response to his warning not to mess with Venezuelan migrants in his future government.
Following Kast's overwhelming victory, the Chilean government also reacted on Monday to statements from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who warned that 'the winds of death are coming to America' and called on the countries of the former Gran Colombia to 'resist with Bolívar's sword high.' Gran Colombia was a state that existed from 1819 to 1831 and included present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama.
Unlike other left-wing presidents in the region, Maduro did not congratulate Kast on his victory and reminded him of his support for the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990): 'You may be a convicted and confessed Pinochetist, but be careful if you touch a single Venezuelan, Venezuelans respect themselves,' the ruler said on his state television program on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
'The one who messes with Venezuela dries up, and you can dry up very quickly, Mr. Kast,' he added.
'Leave alone whoever is quiet,' Maduro insisted, saying that Venezuelans in Chile have 'rights and the Chilean Constitution must guarantee them.'
Kast, who won the presidential election with 58.1% of the vote and will become the first far-right president to come to power since democracy, said Maduro is a 'dictator' and that his words 'don't bother him at all.'
'He is a dictator, a narcodictator, who is currently going through difficult times due to the pressure the United States is exerting, and probably later other countries, because the export of drugs is unacceptable,' he pointed out from Arturo Merino Benítez Airport in Santiago, minutes before flying to Argentina to meet with President Javier Milei.
Among other measures, he proposes mass expulsions of migrants, increased police deployment, fortifying the northern border with fences and ditches, and criminalizing irregular migration.
During his campaign, he counted down the days left for the approximately 340,000 irregular migrants living in Chile to voluntarily leave the country before he takes office.
The head of state also invited his compatriots 'with great respect' to return to the country and announced a special support plan for Venezuelans in Chile who want to return through the government's Vuelta a la Patria program.
The 59-year-old former deputy Kast won the election on Sunday in all 16 regions of the country, surpassing the leftist Jeannette Jara, who obtained 41.83%.
