Far-right candidate José Antonio Castillo has won the second round of voting in Chile's 38th presidential election, defeating the incumbent centre-left government.
With nearly all votes counted on Sunday, Castillo had won with 58 per cent of the vote. He defeated former Labour Minister Janet Jara, a Communist Party politician and candidate for the ruling centre-left coalition.
Shortly after the vote ended, Jara and his coalition, Unity for Chile, conceded defeat.
"I want to assure those who supported us and were inspired by our candidacy that we will continue to work to build a better life for the people of our country. We will stand together and firmly, as we have always been," Zara wrote on social media.
The result underscores the recent victories of the far-right in Latin America. In recent years, right-wing leaders once considered political outsiders have come to power in countries such as Argentina and Ecuador.
The result also marks a major comeback for José Antonio Castro in his personal politics. The 59-year-old Republican Party leader is running for a third term in 2025, his first victory.
Castro was defeated by outgoing President Gabriel Boric in the 2021 election. Borich, a former student leader, became the youngest president in Chile’s history. But his approval rating had fallen to around 30 per cent by the end of his four-year term. He is also ineligible under Chilean law to run for a second term.
Opinion polls show voters are frustrated by Chile’s recent economic slowdown and rising crime and immigration rates.
Castro has campaigned on promises of change. He has pledged to crack down on crime and immigration to ease voters’ concerns. He has even promised to deport immigrants en masse, as has US President Donald Trump.
Casta has also taken a hard-right stance on various social and health issues. This includes anti-abortion policies. He is also against abortion in cases of rape.
However, these hard-line policies have drawn criticism from Casta during the election campaign. Critics have criticised Casta for his sympathetic comments about Chile's former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet.
In 1973, Pinochet led a right-wing military coup that overthrew the democratically elected leader, Salvador Allende. Pinochet ruled the country until 1990.
Pinochet's rule was marked by widespread human rights abuses and the repression of political opponents. Thousands of people were killed indiscriminately. Many were tortured.
Casta refuses to call himself a "hard-rightist." He has repeatedly supported the Pinochet government. Caste has said of Pinochet, "If he were alive, he would have voted for me."
Opposition has also raised questions about Caste's family. His father, Michael Martin Caste, was born in Germany. He was a member of the Nazi Party. Martin Caste immigrated to Chile in 1950.
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Chile has made voting compulsory for the first time since 2012. The South American country has about 15.7 million voters
The first round of voting was held on November 16. Caste came in second at the time. He received about 23.9 per cent of the vote. Zara received 26.8 per cent.
According to media and opinion polls, Caste was widely expected to win the second round, despite being behind.
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