Chile’s Boring Conservative President by Andrés Velasco
Rather than governing like a pugnacious populist or a ruthless pragmatist, Chile’s new president, José Antonio Kast, has adopted an old-school center-right agenda and governing style reminiscent of the 1980s. Yet even this potentially safer approach comes with its own risks and costs.
LONDON—When the conservative José Antonio Kast became president of Chile six months ago, the big question was whether he would be a pugnacious populist like US President Donald Trump or an unexpectedly pragmatic operator like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He has been neither. Instead, he most resembles former UK Prime Ministers Keir Starmer and Theresa May, which is to say he has been boring.
