After Argentina elected Javier Milei, a number of South American countries have either elected right-wing governments or appear poised to do so. The results of Chile’s first round elections this weekend suggest right-wing candidate José Antonio Kast will win the coming runoff. Samantha Pearson reports for The Wall Street Journal:
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.
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