José Antonio Kast, a conservative candidate, was elected president of Chile on Sunday, a sharp turn to the right in a country where voters are deeply concerned about security and illegal migration.

Kast, a 59-year-old father of nine with ideological roots in conservative Roman Catholicism and economic neoliberalism, had campaigned with a strong platform against crime with similarities to the political approach of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and that promised to deport undocumented migrants and build a barrier along the extensive northern border with Chile.

With more than 98 percent Of the ballots counted, Kast had won more than 58 percent of the vote, a resounding victory over Jeannette Jara, the center-left candidate and member of the Chilean Communist Party, who won about 42 percent.

On Sunday, in front of Kast's operations center in an upscale neighborhood of Santiago, as supporters wrapped in Chilean flags celebrated, street vendors offered red caps that read “Make Chile Great Again,” while others opted for the original cap of the MAGA movement.

Kast's election represents a clear 180-degree turn with respect to the leftist government of the current president, Gabriel Boric, and aligns Chile with other nations in the region, such as Argentina and Bolivia, which have recently turned to the right.

“One more step for our region in defense of life, freedom and private property,” the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, on social networks on Sunday night. “I am confident that we will work together so that America embraces the ideas of freedom and we can free ourselves from the oppressive yoke of 21st century socialism…!!!”

In Chile, the change was attributed primarily to a bias against the current government, but it also reflected concern about an increase in violent crime that has deeply affected Chileans. Kast put this issue at the forefront of his campaign.

Jara, whom Kast defeated, was Minister of Labor in the Boric government. Jara was generally considered the candidate most likely to continue the policies of the incumbent government, which is quite unpopular.

Kast, whose previous political career had been characterized by a focus on conservative Catholic values such as opposition to abortion, has largely avoided addressing these divisive issues during this year's presidential bid, which was his third attempt.

Instead, he has decried the 50 percent increase in homicide victims in 2024 compared to 2018, largely attributed to the introduction of international criminal networks into the country. That emphasis had an impact among Chileans, since almost two-thirds of those surveyed now consider crime to be their main concern, double the world average, according to a recent Ipsos survey.

Their second major concern, According to polls, it is migration control, another issue that Kast has promised to vigorously combat. More than 300,000 undocumented migrants live in the country, according to estimates from the National Institute of Statistics of Chile. Many come from Venezuela.

Pablo Longueira, a veteran right-wing politician and former Chilean government minister, said that the issues that defined these elections were security, drug trafficking, illegal migration and criminal organizations, issues that, he considers, are a great concern for citizens.

Although the people who have committed crimes are only a tiny part of the migrants who have arrived in Chile to flee the economic collapse in their countries, Chilean police say the influx has also included gang members, whose victims are often other migrants.

Last month, Kast said they had 111 days left to self-deport before he takes office or they would be deported as early as March, once he takes office. If they self-deport, he said, they will be able to take their belongings with them, instead of being detained and expelled. His warnings have created tensions at Chile's borders, as some migrants have attempted to cross into Peru and José Jerí, president of Peru, has been in the border area with Chile.

Kast also promised to criminalize illegal migration in Chile and build a “physical barrier” at the border, although local authorities near the border note that the number of illegal entries has already decreased significantly.

“The issue of migration must be resolved,” said Patricio Sepúlveda, a voter from Kast in Santiago, 61 years old. “If the solution has to be stronger, so be it,” he added.

Sepúlveda added that he hoped the Kast government would reestablish Chile's alliances with countries like the United States, Israel and Argentina, whose right-wing leaders Boric had criticized.

Kast has also proposed cutting public spending by $6 billion, but it is not yet clear what programs will result. affected.

“It was the change we needed,” said Braulio Valladares, a 41-year-old engineer, who voted for Kast on Sunday. “Return to neoliberalism and capitalism.”

Kast is the son of German immigrants. His brother Miguel was a minister during the Chilean military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Kast has expressed his admiration for Pinochet, who led the country for almost two decades starting in the early 1970s. Although Kast condemned the regime's human rights abuses, responsible for thousands of deaths and disappearances, he praised the regime's economic achievements and once said that if Pinochet were alive today he would vote for him.

Emma Bubola is a reporter for the Times in Rome.