SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
New Chile leader calls for end to Maduro 'dictatorship'
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 16 (AFP) Dec 16, 2025
Chile's hard-right president-elect Jose Antonio Kast said Tuesday that he would back efforts to end Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro's "dictatorship," giving Washington yet another regional ally in its showdown with Caracas.

Kast said he supported "any situation" to do away with Maduro's government as he visited Argentina -- his first foreign trip since he easily defeated a leftist candidate in Sunday's election run-off.

Kast had campaigned on promises to deport more than 300,000 mostly Venezuelan irregular migrants, tackle crime and secure the northern border.

His win confirms a right-wing lurch in Latin America, following victories for the right in Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, El Salvador and Ecuador.

It also expands President Donald Trump's support base in the region at a time when he is considering strikes on Venezuelan territory.

On a visit to Buenos Aires on Tuesday, Kast said that while Chile itself would "not intervene" in Venezuela, "if someone is going to do it, let's be clear that it solves a gigantic problem for us and all of Latin America, all of South America, and even for countries in Europe."

Kast blamed Venezuela's economic meltdown and migrant outflow on the leftist Maduro, whom he called "a narco-dictator."

Around seven million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2014, fleeing a severe economic and political crisis under an increasingly authoritarian Maduro.

"It is not our responsibility to solve it (the Venezuelan crisis), but whoever does will have our support," Kast said.

Before the election, Kast had called on undocumented Venezuelans in Chile to self-deport or be thrown out when he takes office in March.

But hundreds of migrants who tried to travel home last month found themselves blocked at the border with Peru, which is refusing them entry.

Kast has proposed the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" through South America to allow Venezuelans and other migrants to return home.

Maduro has reacted angrily to Kast's broadsides against Venezuela.

On Monday, he likened Kast to Hitler and warned him to "watch out if you so much as touch a single hair on a Venezuelan's head."

His remark about Adolf Hitler was seen as a swipe at Kast's German-born father, who was a member of the Nazi party and a soldier during World War II.

Kast insists his father was a forced conscript and did not support the Nazis.

He chose Chile's neighbor and sometimes economic rival, Argentina, for his first visit abroad.

Libertarian leader Javier Milei gave a warm welcome to the Chilean, whom he sees as an ideological ally.

On Sunday, he hailed Kast's victory over the candidate of the outgoing leftist government as "another step forward in our region in defense of life, liberty, and private property."


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
DiskSat flat satellite platform targets high power missions and very low Earth orbit
HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes 100000 image milestone
JPL puts Blue Ghost Mission 2 lunar stack through launch stress tests

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Brain like chips could cut AI power demand
"Robot, make me a chair" robot-make-me-a-chair-in-six-prompts
Germanium oxide interface boosts tin monosulfide thin film solar cell efficiency and stability

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Leonardo DRS space radio completes first secure on orbit data transport test
Eutelsat Network Solutions to lead global rollout of Intellian OW7MP manpack SATCOM terminal
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access

24/7 News Coverage
Ancient bee nests found inside Caribbean cave fossils
Maintaining the Gold Standard: The Future of Landsat Calibration and Validation
Weak La Nina reshapes Pacific sea levels and seasonal weather



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.