Kast takes office as Chile marks its sharpest shift to the right since dictatorship

VALPARAÍSO, Chile (AP) — Far-right leader José Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile’s president Wednesday in the Latin American nation’s most pronounced rightward shift since the return of democracy in 1990.

In a ceremony at the National Congress in the coastal city of Valparaíso that was attended by dozens of heads of state, Kast and his Cabinet took their oaths of office after a landslide victory in the December elections.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, and Spain’s King Felipe VI were among the attendees. Other guests included Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado.

There were several high-profile absences, including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Nayib Bukele of El Salvador. A modest U.S. delegation was led by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

In his first speech as president Wednesday night, Kast said Chile has real adversaries, including “those who have sown terror in neighborhoods.”

Kast won his landslide election victory against communist candidate Jeannette Jara with the promise of fighting crime and curbing illegal immigration, similar to the aims of his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump.

“And those who have entered by violating our borders to commit crimes, exploit others or turn our land into a no-man’s land are also adversaries of Chile,” Kast said from the balcony at the La Moneda Palace in the capital, Santiago. He added that the government “will not negotiate” with them and that he will pursue them and bring them to justice.

Demonstrations for and against the new president unfolded outside Congress in Valparaíso and the La Moneda Palace. Kast supporters waved flags and held banners reading “Long live Chile” and “President of change.”

“Now is the time for unity. After all, a large majority of the country voted for him, and that’s why I came to support him,” Melisa Muñoz, a 38-year-old secretary, told The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, another group of protesters marched against Kast and what they called American “imperialism." Police closed several subway stations in downtown Santiago as a security measure.

“With Kast, it’s going to be like living back in the ‘80s,” Jeanete Figueroa, 52, an administrator, told AP, referring to the years Chile lived under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. “I lived through it in the ’80s, I went out to protest, and now it’s going to be exactly the same, I’ll go back to the streets.”

Chile is the latest Latin American country to vote out an incumbent government, with voters backing right-wing leaders from Argentina to Bolivia as Trump looks to assert U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, in many cases punishing rivals and rewarding allies.

While Kast has avoided commenting on controversial issues at home and abroad, he has made overtures to the Trump administration and praised the U.S. operation that culminated in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

These signals intensified recently when Kast abruptly ended the transition process following a clash with outgoing President Gabriel Boric over a project to install a submarine cable to connect Chile and China. The project drew intense criticism from the U.S. and further deepened the diplomatic tensions between the Boric administration and Washington.

Relations between Chile and the United States have deteriorated significantly under the second Trump administration. Boric was a vocal critic of his U.S. counterpart, even characterizing the Republican’s leadership style as that of a “new emperor.”

Trump openly signaled his preference for Kast over Boric, notably inviting Kast to last weekend’s “Shield of the Americas” summit in Miami, which brought together several right-wing leaders in the region, including Bukele and Milei.

Kast narrowly lost the presidency in 2021 to Boric. At that time, his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage — along with his praise of the legacy and figure of Pinochet — were largely rejected by Chileans.

Four years later, his hard-line stance on crime and immigration won the support of about 60% of voters in a country hit by a rise in organized crime and disappointed by the great expectations that Boric raised but left unfulfilled.

“He promised us many things, and then it was four years of disappointment,” Yamila Martinez, a 31-year-old warehouse assistant, told The Associated Press.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola wave to supporters from the balcony of la Moneda presidential palace after his inauguration in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristobal Basaure)

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast, center, and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola greet guests on his inauguration day at Congress in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola wave to supporters from the balcony of La Moneda presidential palace after his inauguration in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A dog lies on the red carpet outside Congress prior to the inauguration ceremony of Chile's new President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Outgoing President Gabriel Boric greets supporters as he leaves after President Jose Antonio Kast's swearing-in ceremony in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Anti-government protesters demonstrate on the inauguration day of Chile's incoming President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast, center, and his wife Maria Pia Adriasola greet guests on his inauguration day at Congress in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast waves to supporters as he leaves Congress after his swearing-in ceremony in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino arrives to Congress for the inauguration ceremony of Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Spain's King Felipe arrives to Congress for the inauguration ceremony of Chile's President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrives to Congress to attend the inauguration ceremony of Chile's new President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau arrives to Congress to attend the inauguration ceremony of Chile's new President Jose Antonio Kast in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Senate President Paulina Nunez, left, places the presidential sash on incoming President Jose Antonio Kast during his inauguration in Valparaiso, Chile, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Chilean President-elect Jose Antonio Kast talks to the press at his office in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The French ambassador to Johannesburg said Tuesday that South Africa should be allowed to attend the Group of 20 summit this year in the United States despite U.S. President Donald Trump's move to bar the country from the meeting.

Trump said last year he would not invite South Africa — a full G20 member — to the summit that the U.S. will host in Florida in December, following diplomatic tensions between the two. South African officials have said they have also been locked out of G20 meetings that traditionally happen throughout the year ahead of a summit.

The Trump administration has criticized South Africa’s Black-led government as being anti-white and anti-American, while the Republican president has made baseless claims that there is a widespread campaign of violence against the country’s white minority farmers.

The move by Trump has been criticized by other G20 members, who say no country should have the authority to bar another. The bloc of developed and developing nations operates on a consensus basis.

“France being also a founding member of the G20, we consider of course that South Africa is a full-fledged member of the G20 and should be part of all of its meetings,” French Ambassador David Martinon told reporters in Johannesburg.

The tensions between Washington and Johannesburg marred South Africa's hosting of the G20 summit — the first in Africa — last year when the U.S. boycotted. There was a spat at the end of the summit when the U.S. sent officials from its embassy to take part in a handover ceremony to the next host country. South Africa refused that, saying it was an insult that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa should hand over to what it called junior diplomatic officials.

The South African government has referred to the U.S. decision to bar it from this year's G20 as a “punitive move” based on “ completely false” information.

Martinon said there have been discussions among diplomatic officials from G20 countries over South Africa's barring and its potential absence from the summit at Trump's Miami-area Doral golf club. South Africa is the only African nation in the G20.

France also has denied it bowed to U.S. pressure to rescind an invitation to South Africa to attend the Group of Seven summit it hosts in June.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson said last month that a personal invitation extended by French President Emmanuel Macron to Ramaphosa last year was retracted and the reason given by French officials was pressure from the Trump administration, which didn't want South Africa at the G7 summit.

Ramaphosa later backtracked on his spokesperson's comments and said he was not aware of any pressure from the U.S., a move largely seen as an attempt to defuse tensions.

South Africa is not a G7 member but has sometimes attended summits.

Martinon repeated that France had not rescinded an invitation but instead opted for a more “streamlined” G7 summit in the resort town of Évian-les-Bains. The leaders of India, Brazil, Kenya and South Korea have been invited as guests to join those from members Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, U.K. and the U.S.

“As for the G7, I can only refer to what President Ramaphosa said about it, if I remember it's something like ‘you can’t be de-invited from a forum you don’t belong to’, but that’s his words,” Martinon said Tuesday.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump attends a session at the G-20 Summit in Osaka on June 29, 2019. (Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron on the opening day of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Halden Krog/Pool Photo via AP, File)