A noticeable difference between the presidents that observers were discussing outside the National Congress Building in Valparaiso Wednesday was that outgoing President Gabriel Boric never wore a tie — not even at the formal swearing in of his successor Juan Antonio Kast, a solid conservative who is almost always seen in business suit and tie.
In fact, a few of those witnessing the ceremony pointed out that on that very morning, Kast issued an order requiring any male who worked for his government to wear a tie.
A minor factoid, all right, but nevertheless symbolic of the dramatic shift in governance and style resulting from the election for president last year.
Boric is a self-described socialist and father of two from different domestic partners (but never married), and failed miserably in attempting to revoke the 1980 Chilean constitution crafted by military strongman Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
Kast, whom Boric defeated for president in 2021 with 55% of the vote, roared back last year to carry every region in the nation against Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara. Kast, 60, is a daily communicant in the Roman Catholic Church, a father of nine, a supporter of free market economics and an admirer of President Donald Trump.
Perhaps most important to Chileans who spoke to Newsmax, the new president is committed to an all-out war against the violent crime that has plagued his country since terrorists unleashed a violent wave in 2019 that resulted in explosions in subways, churches, and stores.
By 2025, with an Ipsos poll showing 62% of Chileans believing crime and violence were the most important issues, Kast and his Republican (conservative) Party made law and order their central cause.
Where he had focused on a free-market agenda in his previous campaign, Kast now stumped on a platform, the Financial Times noted, “to toughen prison conditions for gang members, ‘drastically’ increase jail terms, halt a big wave of immigration from Venezuela that he blames for eroding law and order and expel illegal immigrants.”
One source close to Kast told Newsmax the president will "definitely" beef up the presence of Chilean troops along its border to Bolivia, which is the primary source of its tide of illegal immigants.
Strong medicine, all right. But will it work?
“I sure hope so,” Juan Jose Duarte, a manager of the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Santiago, told Newsmax. “It’s the most important thing of all here — especially the rising number of juvenile delinquents.”
Ernesto Rodriguez, a mechanical engineer from Los Andes, admitted to Newsmax that “I don’t have much sympathy for Kast or the people around him, who are not the most experienced people [the new president has selected more Cabinet appointees from the business community and private sector than traditional politicians.]”
But, he quickly added, “the most important thing he can do is bring down the crime rate while always respecting human rights.”
Historian and TV personality Magdalena Merbilhaa agreed that the “most important thing Kast can do is bring back order and security to Chile. But he also has to redefine the economy so it can grow.
"Everything worked before [socialist President] Michelle Bachelet won her second term [in 2014]. If we can get back to what [the economy] was like before then, we will again have growth of 4%. If you control security and crime, it will help growth.”
Perhaps Arturo Alessandri, Santiago attorney and grandnephew of the late President Jorge Alessandri, summarized the attitude in Chile best. “We have high expectations but we don’t want to have a violation of those expectations. There are good grounds to believe Chile is in a new era.”
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