Down in Chile, they had the first round of their presidential elections, and voters rejected the leftist President Boric.  Don’t be fooled by the fact that the leftist candidate got the most votes or about 26%.  The other 74% is a combination of center-right candidates that will end up supporting Jose Antonio Kast and giving him the presidency.  A bad day for the left is all you can say.

On Sunday night, I caught a little Chilean TV via the internet, and found it all very fascinating.  As one reporter pointed out, the voters rejected uncontrolled immigration and crime, and they want their great economy back.  This analysis by Samantha Pearson expands on the story:

A victory for Kast and his Republican Party marks a broader shift away from progressive governments in South America. In Argentina, President Javier Milei has consolidated his alliance with Trump and his MAGA movement. Bolivia elected a centrist, pro-market president last month after nearly two decades of socialist rule, his inauguration attended by Christopher Landau, the U.S.’s deputy secretary of state. And conservatives appear poised to do well in presidential elections in Peru and Colombia next year.

A Kast presidency could give Trump another strategic ally in Latin America as the U.S. looks to increase investments in mining while countering Chinese influence. Chile is one of Latin America’s most prosperous and developed countries. It holds about a quarter of the world’s copper and a third of global lithium reserves, essential for electric-vehicle batteries, mineral wealth that investors have found challenging to tap.

Kast has publicly praised Trump, calling his electoral win last year ‘a new victory for freedom and common sense’ in comments on X. He has also framed undocumented migration as a national security threat, urging Chile to adopt tough border and deportation policies similar to those under Trump. 

It is a popular message in Chile. The country is still one of the safest in Latin America but recent shootouts in broad daylight and violent robberies, long a reality in Mexico, Brazil and other countries, have shocked voters. Some 63% of Chileans now say crime and violence are major concerns, the second-highest share after Peru in an Ipsos poll of 30 countries last month.

So Chileans got tired of lawlessness and chaos?  Yes they did, and handed the incumbent leftist administration a humiliating defeat.  Not only will Chile have a conservative president, but the congressional elections went to the right as well.

So the second round will happen in 2 weeks and Mr. Kast is favorite to win.

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Image: Free image, Pixabay license.