Return of Pinochet’s Ideology to Power in Chile: Statement from the New Anti-Capitalist Party – France

Original article: Regreso del pinochetismo al poder en Chile: Declaración del Nuevo Partido Anticapitalista – Francia

Statement from the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA-A) – France

José Antonio Kast won the second round of the Chilean presidential elections with 58.30% of the votes on December 14. This son of a German non-commissioned officer and member of the Nazi party, whose family was deeply involved in the horrors of Pinochet’s regime, thus marks the return of the far-right to power, this time through the ballot box, under a new mandatory voting system, 35 years after the end of the dictatorship. He triumphed across all regions of the country against Jeanette Jara, the unitary candidate from a wide progressive coalition, an affiliation of the Chilean Communist Party and former Minister of Labor in the outgoing center-left government led by Gabriel Boric.

Kast’s access to power, in a parliament largely dominated by the right and far-right, has been built on a political agenda of hardline measures, xenophobia, anti-communism, and misogyny, particularly blaming women, migrants, activists, and indigenous peoples for the nation’s ills.

This victory was also bolstered by a vigorous campaign from the major corporate media groups that dominate the information landscape in Chile.

An admirer of Pinochet, Kast, allied with the conservative right that hastily rallied to support him, intends to impose a violent radicalization of Chile’s neoliberal policies (which the country already exemplifies), along with a deeply reactionary program serving the dominant classes of the Andean nation. The elected president will be prepared to utilize the full repressive arsenal of the Chilean state to achieve these goals.

There is no doubt that this election concludes and is inscribed within a particularly intense sequence of political struggles. The driving force of the great popular uprising that began in October 2019 remains in everyone’s minds, although it ultimately did not lead to the downfall of Sebastián Piñera’s government (right), nor did it achieve lasting change in class relations.

The presidential victory of the coalition led by the Broad Front (FA) under Gabriel Boric in 2021 was made possible by this grassroots momentum. The FA was also characterized by its attempt to offer an institutional exit to this disruptive social energy while entering into a pact for “social peace and a new Constitution,” accepted by the country’s elites, who were frightened by the rebellious power witnessed in October.

The reformist push from the left coalition, which is a minority in Parliament and has limited standing in the social movement, was also hampered by the significant failure of the 2022 constitutional referendum, which facilitated the gradual shift toward the “extreme center” of the executive, within a co-government with the social-liberals.

Indeed, the most emblematic reforms (40-hour workweek, minimum wage increase, women’s rights legislation, abolition of co-pay in the health sector) or attempts to reform the pension system, were executed with substantial concessions to employers and a revitalized right-wing opposition, while the government’s focus on security, the signing of a free trade agreement like the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), or the establishment of a prolonged state of emergency in the Mapuche territories marked clear breaks from the initial progressive campaign commitments.

This new defeat should alert leftist and anti-fascist forces around the world. One by one, countries are falling under the yoke of neofascist far-right powers and/or authoritarian governments. In Latin America, driven by the return of Trump to power and his imperialist offensive in the Caribbean, the situation is particularly alarming.

Regardless of the lessons drawn collectively from these failures, it is urgent to build a genuine international anti-fascist front that is also capable of responding to popular aspirations and demands in a capitalist world in crisis.

The NPA will commit to solidarity initiatives with Chile and the peoples of Latin America, alongside those social and political forces that share this internationalist need.

We want to express our full solidarity with the inhabitants of Chile, who will now have to confront a particularly unsettling and dangerous power starting next March. In particular, we stand with all those who will undoubtedly be its main targets: dissidents, women, migrants, activists, unionists, and mobilized indigenous peoples.

Our political current, which in the past welcomed numerous Chilean activists fleeing Pinochet’s dictatorship, will respond once more: Present!

Paris, France, December 2025