Chile has become the latest country in Latin America to veer toward the right, electing a deeply conservative veteran politician who has long attracted comparisons to�Donald Trump.

The president-elect,�Jos� Antonio Kast, has expressed nostalgia for the 17-year military dictatorship of�the late Gen. Augusto Pinochet, opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage and advocated in recent years for a�constitutional ban on abortion.

Those stances, which some say sabotaged�Kast’s previous presidential bids�in the increasingly liberal country, didn’t seem to matter in Sunday’s election.

Instead,�Kast, 59, won a landslide victory�by tapping into a deep well of resentment at the status quo in a country�whiplashed by an unprecedented rise in organized crime�and disappointed by the great expectations that�President Gabriel Boric�raised but will leave unfulfilled.

A dramatic turn from two decades ago

Experts say this reflects the pervasive anti-incumbent mood that has gripped South America and, significantly, boosted the radical right at time when Trump is�seeking to influence�the region’s political future.

It’s a dramatic turn from only two decades ago, when the commodities boom brought to power�the so-called �pink tide��of�left-wing leaders, like the late socialist icon Hugo Ch�vez, who whipped up voters by railing against U.S. imperialism and vowing to redistribute their nations’ wealth.

�The last decade, it�s been rough,� said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist. �And the people who get blamed for stagnant economies, rising crime � or, at least, rising perceptions of crime � and not insignificant corruption are those who’ve been in power, and that’s the left.�

A continental shift

Across South America this year alone, voters strengthened the mandates given to�anarcho-capitalist President Javier Milei�in Argentina and�iron-fisted President Daniel Noboa�in Ecuador, rather than return their countries to the left-wing traditions that held sway previously.

In Bolivia, voters outraged over corruption and economic crisis elected�right-wing President Rodrigo Paz�in October and ended nearly two�decades of socialist rule.

In Peru, demands for a ruthless�approach to organized�crime have�caused political chaos�and empowered the country’s right-wing politicians ahead of a presidential election next year.

Last week,�partial results�in�Honduras’ paralyzed presidential vote�showed a conservative former�mayor endorsed by Trump�and his right-wing sportscaster rival deadlocked in a stunning rebuke of the incumbent left-wing government.

Chile’s turn at the polls

Then, on Sunday,�voters traumatized by insecurity, angry about uncontrolled migration�and frustrated with a dispiriting economy chose Kast over�Jeannette Jara, his communist rival from the�center-left governing coalition�who failed to persuade them that she was something other than the continuity candidate.

Experts say the new Latin American hard right underscores�Trump�s influence.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump praised Kast on Monday as �a very good person,� adding, �I look forward to pay(ing) my respects to him.�

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said he held a phone call with Kast to discuss �expanding economic ties and ending illegal immigration.�

Like Milei and Brazil�s�ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, Kast has been a fixture on the global speaking circuit of the�Conservative Political Action Conference, decrying socialism, lambasting �gender ideology� and vowing the mass deportations of immigrants.

�The far right is not a majority anywhere, it�s usually 25-30% of electorates, but it�s punching above its weight because it has a real ideological project,� said Levitsky. �They�ve got political momentum right now, and that clearly helped in Chile.�

At Kast�s victory rally Sunday in Santiago, Chile�s capital, supporters waved American flags, sported red �Make Chile great again� caps and raised banners emblazoned with Milei�s 2023 campaign slogan, �The force of change.�

Kast’s campaign said he would fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday to meet with Milei about security and immigration.

A �moment of reflection� for the left

Just four years ago, the region was in the grips of a different political shift as deep-rooted social discontent and popular mistrust of the establishment helped bring a new crop of left-wing leaders to office.

In Chile, President Boric,�a firebrand former student protest leader, came to power on the back of�social unrest over inequality�that presented a rare opportunity for his government to pursue previously unthinkable left-wing demands, like a new constitution and the transformation of Chile’s market-led economy.

But soon a�series of legislative defeats, a�corruption scandal�and an unprecedented wave of�organized crime�derailed his ambitions. His approval ratings dropped from 50% to less than 30% in his first year � and never recovered.

In Colombia,�progressive President Gustavo Petro�was elected on plans to help the poor and achieve what he called��total peace��with the nation’s many armed groups. Now, with just months to go until presidential elections that could swing the country back toward the right, Petro’s most ambitious�reforms are stuck in Congress. The�militias haven’t put down their guns.

Mexico stands out as an exception to the regional trend.�President Claudia Sheinbaum, who was ushered into office last year by her�hugely popular�mentor,�ex-President Andr�s Manuel L�pez Obrador, has enjoyed soaring approval thanks to her association with L�pez Obrador and measured handling of a volatile relationship with Trump.

But while Milei and other regional conservative leaders hailed Kast’s win as another milestone in their ideological movement’s continental sweep, Sheinbaum on Monday urged fellow left-wing leaders to learn from defeat.

�This is a moment of reflection,� she said. �We have to analyze what happened in Chile.�

President Petro�s analysis was brusque.

�Fascism advances,� he wrote on social media about Kast’s election. �They are coming for us and we must resist.�

Kast speaks to Chile’s reality

Kast has praised the crime-fighting tactics of�El Salvador�s Nayib Bukele, touring his�40,000-capacity mega prison last year. His vows to cut a staggering $6 billion from the budget in just 18 months have drawn comparisons to�Milei�s chainsaw methods.

But in stark contrast to his ideological allies, Kast promoted himself as a moderate in this�election runoff�against Jara, whose lifelong membership in Chile�s hard-line Communist Party led many voters to view her as a radical despite her vows of fiscal restraint.

�He’s not who I wanted, but at the end of the day, he’s the least bad option,� said Carol Mesa, 54, who previously backed the right-wing establishment candidate, Evelyn Matthei,�eliminated in the first round of voting last month.��I couldn’t vote for a communist. We need change.�

Despite his budget-slashing ambitions, Kast promised not to touch social benefits. He defended the free-market institutions that have guided Chile�s economy over 35 years of democracy. And the devout Catholic and father of nine managed to avoid all talk of moral conservatism.

�The main issues are crime and immigration, and that’s why the majority of the middle class geared up to vote against continuity and in favor of Kast,� said Kenneth Bunker, a Chilean political analyst. �They saw him as somebody that can deliver results that are much needed.�

In his first act as president-elect, Kast�tried to narrow Chile�s divisions�and calm the fears of his critics, promising to �be the president of all Chileans.�

�They say we are not good at agreements,” he said. �We are going to surprise them.�

(AP)