SANTIAGO— Chilean voters elected José Antonio Kast to become the nation’s next president in a Dec. 14 runoff election against leftist Jeannette Jara, according to Reuters. The election was decisive, with Kast receiving some 58% of the vote to Jara’s 42%, Reuters reported. Kast, a member and founder of the far-right Chilean Republican Party, ran on a platform centered around crackdowns on organized crime and illegal immigration, vowing to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants and expand the military’s role in fighting organized crime.

In his two previous presidential races, Kast was often seen as too extreme, but as crime and immigration have become central concerns of domestic politics, voters began to gravitate toward his hardline positions. His election marks a political pivot for the South American country, who has prided itself on keeping far-right politics at bay since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s rule in 1990. Kast himself was a staunch supporter of Pinochet’s regime, even campaigning for him in the 1988 referendum that saw Pinochet lose power (though he did not formally step down until 1990). Further, Kast’s father was a member of Hitler’s Nazi party, fleeing to Chile following the second world war. Kast has publicly claimed his father was forcibly conscripted into the German Army.

Jeannette Jara, Kast’s leading leftist opponent in the presidential elections, found herself bogged down by her connections to the unpopular incumbent government, headed by Gabriel Boric. Jara attempted to address public security and immigration concerns by proposing the construction of more jails, bolstering law enforcement, and modernizing border security, according to CNN.

The results are indicative of a larger regional shift in the greater Latin American region towards the political right. Chile now joins El Salvador (Nayib Bukele), Argentina (Javier Milei), and Ecuador (Daniel Noboa) as the latest country in Latin America to recently elect a far-right leader. Bolivia also recently ended a nearly two-decade Socialist regime with the election of centrist Rodrigo Paz. There are a few reasons this trend might be troubling.

Kast has made proposals eerily similar to those made by U.S. President Trump and other far-right leaders around the world, such as expanding the military’s role in fighting organized crime, and creating a force similar to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has repeatedly fallen under fire for violating both constitutional and human rights in the U.S. Such propositions draw painful comparisons to tactics employed by the violent Pinochet regime and risk contributing to the erosion of democratic institutions.

Perhaps more importantly, however, the results indicate rising political polarization. Claudia Heiss, a political scientist at the University of Chile, pointed out that Kast’s win was likely also driven by voter’s rejection of Jara. Jara’s membership in the Communist Party of Chile positioned her as an extreme candidate, which was amplified by her connections to the unpopular incumbent government. On the other extreme end in the 2025 presidential elections was the self-proclaimed far-right candidate Johannes Kaiser. This positioned Kast as a “moderate” candidate with significant political traction, a position Kast embraced despite his rather extreme views. David Altman, a political scientist at Chilean University, argued that “people abandoned the left and as there essentially was not a political center, they went right … it was the only place where they could land.” Voters and rights watchdogs will have to remain privy to the effects that polarization may have on the country. Polarization has a habit of slowing dialogue and eroding democratic institutions, no matter how robust they might be– as the U.S. readily demonstrates.

The overall effects of Kast’s election on regional security, however, are harder to pinpoint. Some have argued that his election brings unity among a number of right-wing governments in the region, enabling increased cooperation– particularly in the fight against transnational criminal networks operating in South America. While this argument may have some merit, some of Kast’s other propositions could spell trouble for neighboring countries. His promise to crackdown on immigration has already led Peru to declare a state of emergency as it shoulders a heavy influx of migrants fleeing Chile, according to NBC News. Such extreme influxes of immigrants could create regional instability and unrest, even as countries attempt to address transnational organized crime together.

Despite all this, there are reasons to remain optimistic. First and foremost, there remain serious questions about Kast’s ability to govern effectively. Right-wing parties lack a majority in either of Chile’s congressional chambers. According to Reuters, the Senate is evenly-split between left and right-wing groups, while the populist People’s Party holds the swing vote in the other chamber. Kast’s most hardline proposals will likely face some pushback from moderates in congress, which he will have to learn to navigate. His ambitious promises of swift and uncompromising action may fall flat in a divided congress; negotiation will be vital to pass and implement many of his policies. It is absolutely essential that members of all parties hold him accountable to the full extent of the law should he attempt to circumvent these democratic procedures. As history shows, democratic institutions can only be upheld insofar as their rules are enforced.

The election of a right-wing politician is not, in and of itself, disastrous to democratic institutions. In fact, I would argue quite the opposite– ideological diversity is essential for a democratic society to thrive. What is dangerous, rather, is the election of an ambitious political leader with no significant political or social constraints. Chile itself lived through one such period under Pinochet, and the human cost was significant. Chileans must hold Kast accountable for each of his government’s actions and constantly police the state of civil liberties, freedom of press/public discourse, and the health of their democratic institutions. The election of extreme candidates can bring a great energy and excitement for change, though we must be careful to not shortcut the very institutions that protect us.