Original article: El nuevo dardo de Petro: “Pinochet representa a los Nazis en la historia latinoamericana” y con Kast vuelven al Cono Sur “las ideas de Hitler”

Petro Attacks Kast: «Pinochet Represents Nazis in Latin America’s History» as Hitler’s Ideas Resurface in the Southern Cone

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a strong critique against José Antonio Kast following his election as Chile’s president for the 2026-2030 term. While acknowledging Kast’s electoral victory, Petro warned that his ascension to La Moneda signals a return of Hitler’s ideas to the Southern Cone.

“No one questions Mr. Kast’s election results in Chile; his victory is decisive, but it is not a triumph for life or humanity. We cannot be led to confuse that Kast’s faction is not genuinely fascist, as fascism cannot be accommodated,” he stated in a message on his X social media account, responding to remarks about Kast’s victory made by Alejandro Gaviria, a former Education Minister during Petro’s first term.

“A dull and insipid analysis that ignores the history of peoples. As if history were merely a transfer of superficial and commercial fashions. The strongly ideological current followed by economist Alejandro Gaviria and his intellectual and financial partners derives precisely from Pinochet’s regime and the Chicago Boys,” Petro expressed.

The Colombian head of state elaborated on his criticism of neoliberalism and the inequality affecting both Chile and Colombia.

“They believed that society could be purely guided by free-market instruments, and that only free-market theory is scientific in economics, when it is merely a monetary scam crafted for profit and nothing more. Today, Chile is one of the most unequal societies in the world, alongside Colombia,” he asserted.

“And now, without any shame, as if nothing had happened, as if the climate crisis did not exist and as if we were still in the dreadful September 11, 1973, they are bringing back anachronistic neoliberalism with no solutions for a democratic society,” he stressed.

«Pinochet Represents Nazis in Latin America’s History»

The progressive leader reaffirmed his criticisms of José Antonio Kast and his election, asserting that Kast represents a revival of Augusto Pinochet’s ideas, who ruled Chile with a civic-military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990 following a coup against President Salvador Allende.

“They say it is just a simple change within republican forms, for the society that still yearns for Pinochet to grant power to Mr. Kast as president. It is normal; the pendulum returns to the right place in history, they say. They claim it was necessary to kill President Allende,” Petro noted.

According to Petro, Pinochet “represents the Nazis in Latin America’s history.”

“He initiated an era of state terrorism and political violence in Latin America, normalizing the idea that the left must be eradicated, tortured, and murdered; disregarding the social and historical reasons for its existence,” the Colombian president stated.

He added, “The Latin American fascism has not renounced this. Therefore, disguising these events is pointless. In the Southern Cone, as in the past, Hitler’s ideas have re-emerged, and the liberty-killing mindset is thriving there, just like before.”

Petro warned that Kast’s presidency does not signify “a peaceful return to neoliberalism, no.”

“It marks the end of neoliberalism and the onset of suicidal barbarism. The people must then declare their resistance until a majority of working-class and youth representatives reclaim their place in history,” he emphasized.

José Antonio Kast, a proponent of Pinochet’s legacy, will be the first leader with such views in La Moneda since the end of the dictatorship. Investigative reports from 2021 indicated that his father was a member of the Nazi Party in Germany; Kast maintains that his father was a forced conscript and denies ideological support for Nazism.

Government Sends Protest Note to Gustavo Petro

It is worth noting that after the results of the presidential runoff in Chile were announced, the Colombian president expressed his disapproval of the advance of fascism in Latin America with Kast assuming power, condemning his Nazi lineage, Pinochet affinity, and ultraconservative positions.

“Fascism is advancing; I will never shake hands with a Nazi or the son of a Nazi; they are death incarnate,” he stated, lamenting that the Chilean people voted for a president he compared to the dictator Pinochet.

“Sad that Pinochet had to impose himself by force, but even sadder now is that the people choose their Pinochet: elected or not, they are children of Hitler, and Hitler destroys nations. It is the demon against life, and every Latin American knows how to resist,” he asserted.

In response to these remarks, the Chilean government decided to send a protest note, as confirmed by the Minister of Interior.

“We call for respect for what Chile decides within the framework of democratic rules from any part of the world, by all authorities,” stated the Secretary of State.

He emphasized, “The people of Chile decide, and we must all respect that outcome; that is what democracy consists of.”

“Those of us who fought for the recovery of democracy did so precisely to ensure that the voice of the people was always respected, and that is a fundamental principle we must all protect and uphold,” he stressed.

Later, Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren reported that, following instructions from President Gabriel Boric, a protest note was delivered to the Colombian ambassador in Chile, Sebastián Guanumen, to express “our discontent over the unacceptable remarks made by the President of Colombia.”

Regarding Petro’s statements, he indicated that “they constitute a lack of respect and an improper interference in internal political matters that not only denigrate the elected President but also the sovereign decision of the Chilean people and the democratic strength of our institutions.”