Chilean ultraconservative politician and former congressman. He has nine children. He has long opposed abortion—even in cases of rape—and is against same-sex marriage. He lost the 2021 presidential run-off to Gabriel Boric. His Republican Party is led by Arturo Squella. He once said that Augusto Pinochet, Chile's former military dictator, "would vote for me if he were alive".
In the November 2025 campaign Mr Kast downplayed his social beliefs and focused on security and immigration. He promised an "emergency government", pledging to shut the border using ditches, walls and drones, hold undocumented migrants in special detention centres, and deport them. He talked up a "war against organised crime" and promised new maximum-security prisons, having visited the mega-prison of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. He overtook Evelyn Matthei, a centre-right former mayor and senator who had long led the polls, by being seen as stronger on crime.
His manifesto says undocumented migrants will be held in internment camps while awaiting deportation. His plans for security are pure mano dura ("iron fist"): tougher sentences and maximum-security prisons.
On economics his platform is vigorously pro-market. "The state does not create jobs and wealth. The state destroys," says his manifesto. He proposed cutting public spending by $6bn—equivalent to 7% of a year's budget—within 18 months without touching welfare. Jorge Quiroz is his economic adviser. On immigration he follows Donald Trump's lead.
I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.