 | This articlemay be written from afan's point of view, rather than aneutral point of view. Pleaseclean it up to conform to ahigher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone.(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
José Antonio Kast | |
|---|---|
_4x3_cropped.jpg) Kast in 2024 | |
| Member of theChamber of Deputies fromEast Santiago West Santiago (2002–2014) | |
| In office 11 March 2002 – 11 March 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Pablo Longueira (30th) María Angélica Cristi (24th) |
| Succeeded by | Jaime Bellolio (30th) District abolished (24th) |
| Constituency | 30th district (2002–2014) 24th district (2014–2018) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Antonio Kast Rist (1966-01-18)18 January 1966 (age 59) Santiago,Chile |
| Political party | Republican Party (since 2019) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent Democratic Union (before 2016) Independent (2016–2019) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 9 |
| Relatives |
|
| Alma mater | Pontifical Catholic University of Chile |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Campaign website |
José Antonio Kast Rist (born 18 January 1966), also known by his initialsJAK, is aChilean lawyer and politician. He is running for President in the2025 Chilean general election, for the third time.[1]
Part of the prominent Kast family, he served as a member of theChamber of Deputies from 2002 to 2018, representing District 24 ofPeñalolén andLa Reina. Kast was a member of theIndependent Democratic Union until 2016, becoming anindependent politician until 2019 when he formed theconservativeChilean Republican Party and thethink tankRepublican Ideas. He previously ran for president as an independent candidate in the2017 Chilean general election, and founded the of Republican Action Movement (Acción Republicana) in 2018. Kast ran forpresident in 2021,winning the first round and losing in the second round run-off toGabriel Boric. He served as the president of the international organization Political Network for Values between 2022[2] and 2024.[3]
Kast has been labelled asfar right, and supportslaw-and-order messaging andfree-market economic policies, while opposingabortion,same-sex marriage,divorce,birth control,euthanasia, andillegal immigration.
Kast's parents,Michael Kast Schindele and Olga Rist Hagspiel, were originally fromBavaria. His father had been alieutenant in theGerman Army and aNazi Party member,[4][5] who fled to Chile in December 1950 during thedenazification of Germany and settled inBuin, a commune within theMaipo Department inSantiago Province (currentSantiago Metropolitan Region).[6][7][8][9][10]
Kast's mother, along with two of his siblings,Michael (later Miguel) and Barbara, arrived in Chile in 1951.[6][8] The family foundedCecinas Bavaria, a sausage factory, in 1962, where the family made most of their fortune.[7][8] In total, Kast's parents had 10 children, three of whom predeceased their parents.[11]The Intercept noted that Michael Kast Schindele parented children "who shared hisfar-right politics".[10] Kast's late brother Miguel was an economist andChicago Boy who served underAugusto Pinochet as labor minister and president of theCentral Bank of Chile, and Kast is also the uncle ofPolitical Evolution senatorFelipe Kast.[12]
Kast studied law at thePontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he came in contact with theMovimiento Gremialista (Guildist Movement).[11] He was a candidate for the presidency of the university's student federation (FEUC). As a student, Kast appeared on the1988 Chilean national plebiscite electoral space, supporting the option to extend Pinochet's rule for eight more years.[13][14]
Kast founded alaw firm in 1990. He was also the director of a real estate company owned by his family in the 1990s.[15]
Between 1996 and 2000, Kast was a councilman inBuin. In 2001, he was elected as a member of theChamber of Deputies for District 30 ofSan Bernardo. He was the Secretary General of the Independent Democratic Union, a party from which he resigned in order to run for president.[13][16] While in the Chamber of Deputies, Kast gained the support of theBishop of San BernardoJuan Ignacio González Errázuriz, with the bishop writing a four-page document instructing his congregation to support those againstemergency contraception andsame-sex marriage.[17] The support from the bishop was instrumental with Kast establishing his political career, with Kast's advocacy againstcontraception playing an important role in developing his support.[17]
On 18 August 2017, Kast officially registered his independent candidacy with the Electoral Service, presenting 43,461 signatures.[18] He was supported byright-wing,conservative,libertarian,nationalist andretired military groups, among others.[19][20][21] Kast promoted a "less taxes,less government,pro-life" stance,[22] as well as anti-illegal immigration[23] government programs. His support of the formermilitary government led to much controversy during his campaign, especially his proposal to forgive convicts over 80 years old who haveage-related illnesses, including those who were convicted ofhuman rights violations under Pinochet's government.[22] He received 523,213 votes in the2017 presidential election, representing 7.93% of the total votes and landing in the fourth place, although opinion polls only showed a 2% to 3% support for him.[24] In the second round of the election, he supportedSebastián Piñera, who won the election. He remarked that "[In today's world,] Chileans need God", and said that the state should promote religion in schools by having available teachers for this subject when students choose to have them.[25]
.jpg)
.svg)
In terms of international relations, Kast proposed closing the border withBolivia, arguing this measure would allow for a more effective fight against drug trafficking. In 2018, he called on the government to sever diplomatic relations with France in retaliation for the asylum granted to former guerrilla Ricardo Palma Salamanca.[26]
In March 2018, during a tour of Chilean universities, Kast was scheduled to give a talk at theArturo Prat University inIquique, but was physically assaulted by protesters opposed to his political views.[27] Kast also claimed censorship by theUniversity of Concepción[28] and theAustral University of Chile.[29]
In the2018 Brazilian general election, Kast supportedJair Bolsonaro.[30] In April 2018, Kast launched the right-wing political movement called Republican Action.[31]
.jpg)
In September 2019, Kast was accused of failing to declare money transferred to companies inPanama. Kast recognized the existence of these companies but denied that he owned them, saying they were owned by his brother, Christian Kast. He then defended the right of Chilean people to invest abroad.[32]In May 2019, he created thethink tankRepublican Ideas and in June 2019 he created the ChileanRepublican Party. He opposed the demonstrations that took place during the2019 Chilean protests, saying that they were not part of a social movement but were instead acts of violence organized byterrorists.[13] As approval for the protests decreased, Kast was able to establish support of Chileans who opposed the violence observed during the protests.[33] During the2020 Chilean national referendum regarding changing theConstitution of Chile, he was one of the main supporters and campaigners for rejecting the option,[13] which received 21.72% of the vote; the constitutional change was approved by 78.28% of the vote.[34]
In the2021 Chilean Constitutional Convention election, Kast made a political pact with the center-right coalitionChile Vamos to form a joint list of candidates for the election calledVamos por Chile. The list obtained 20.6% of the vote, representing less than one-third of theConstitutional Convention. Kast proposed one of the main candidates of the pact,Teresa Marinovic, whose political views aligned with Kast's but was not well received by parts of the center-right. However, Marinovic won with a high percentage of votes and, thanks to theD'Hondt method, many other candidates were able to enter the Constitutional Convention with her triumph.[35]
In the2022 constitutional referendum, the Republican Party officially supported the "Rejection" option,[36] which emerged victorious over the "Approve" option. Unlike the previous plebiscite,[37] voting was mandatory this time[38] and the restrictions of theCOVID-19 pandemic were less stringent.
In 2018, Kast confirmed his intentions of running for president in the2021 Chilean general election.[39] In this election, he ran under his own Republican Party along with candidates for the Chamber of Deputies andSenate, unlike in his previous presidential candidacy in 2017, in which he ran as an independent. Kast formed theChristian Social Front, a political pact to present a list of candidates from the Republican Party and theChristian Conservative Party. Kast has held campaign proposals that have been controversial. He supports thepardoning of former Pinochet officials of "advanced age", which would generally include all officials imprisoned. He also proposed banning abortion, fusing theMinistry of Women and Gender Equality, remove Chile from theUnited Nations Human Rights Council and building more prisons.[10]
During his campaigning, Kast used the slogan "make Chile a great country", which was compared toDonald Trump'sMake America Great Again slogan,[40] with some supporters wearing Make America Great Again apparel at his events.[41][42][43] Kast did not participate in theChile Vamospresidential primary, which was won bySebastián Sichel. Sichel was considered as the main right-wing candidate in the polls at the beginning of the election. However, after the first debate on television, Kast started to surpass Sichel and became the top candidate on the right. He received the most votes in the first round of the election, nearly 28% of total votes cast, and he qualified for the run-off againstGabriel Boric.[44]
Following his success in the first round, Kast garnered the support of most of Chile's right-wing groups, including PresidentSebastián Piñera.[33] Internationally, Kast has found solidarity with other right-wing figures, signing theMadrid Charter – a document condemning left-wing groups inIbero-America authored by the far-rightVox party of Spain – beside other international signatories;Rafael López Aliaga of Peru,Javier Milei of Argentina andEduardo Bolsonaro of Brazil, the son of PresidentJair Bolsonaro.[45] On 30 November 2021, Kast began to make international connections during his campaign, meeting inWashington, D.C., withRepublicanUnited States SenatorMarco Rubio, the Chilean ambassador to theOrganization of American States and at least twenty American business executives invested in Chile, including María Paulina Uribe ofPepsiCo.[10][33][46]
On 18 December, the former presidential candidate of theParty of the People,Franco Parisi, endorsed José Antonio Kast. This followed the results of an internal party consultation where members chose to support Kast with 61.41% of the votes, compared to 6.58% who favored Gabriel Boric.[47][48]
In the second round of the election, held on 19 December, Kast received 44.13% of the votes, losing to Gabriel Boric, who garnered 55.87% of the votes and became Chile's new president.[49] On 19 December 2021, Kast conceded defeat after losing to Boric in the run-off and promised "constructive collaboration".[50] Kast became the first candidate since 1999 to lead the presidential election in the first round but lose the runoff.[51]
.jpg)
Between March 2022 and December 2024, Kast served as president of the international conservative network "Political Network for Values".[52][53]
Before the election, the party opposed the creation of theConstitutional Council following the victory of the "Reject" option in the previous exit plebiscite. However, the party deemed it important to participate in the process once it could no longer be blocked, and no entry plebiscite was held.[54]
In 2023, the Constitutional Council was formed to draft the new Constitution. This council consisted of 51 members, with Chileans electing 34 from the right (23 from the Republican Party and 11 from Chile Vamos) and 16 from the left in May of that year. In November, the party's leadership decided to support the "In Favor" option in theDecember plebiscite, but the "Against" option emerged victorious. After the defeat, José Antonio Kast acknowledged the campaign's failure.[55]
In November 2024, the Republican Party confirmed José Antonio Kast as its candidate for the first round of the2025 Chilean presidential election, rejecting participation in primaries with Chile Vamos and other opposition candidates.[1]
Kast has been described asfar-right,[56] which he denies.[57] He has expressedright-wing populist positions[58][59] and support for formerdictatorAugusto Pinochet,[41] calling for a "firm hand" to govern Chile.[45][8][60][61][62] Kast is aconservative,[63][64][65] supportingfree-market economics andlaw and order policies,[64] and describing the 2021 election as a choice "between freedom and communism – between democracy and communism".[41][66][67] Kast opposesillegal immigration,abortion, andsame-sex marriage in Chile, supporting social benefits only for married women.[33][68] Concerning heritage and culture, Kast claims to "defend Chile's European heritage and national unity against the left's espousal ofindigenous groups andmulticulturalism."[45] Kastrejects theoverwhelming scientific consensus onclimate change, downplaying its dangers and denying mankind's contribution to it.[33] His public speaking mannerisms and conservatism have been compared to Brazilian presidentJair Bolsonaro.[69] Kast's support for a ditch along the Chile-Bolivia border to reduce illegal immigration has been compared to former U.S presidentDonald Trump's support for awall along the Mexico–United States border.[70][71]
.jpg)
Kast is married to María Pía Adriasola; the couple has nine children.[72] He is a practisingCatholic and a member of theSchoenstatt Apostolic Movement.[11]
Kast and others of xenophobic and racist sentiment in a country that has seen large numbers of arrivals in recent years from Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, and elsewhere
