President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) withdrew from attending the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Chile, José Antonio Kast, scheduled for this Wednesday (11), in Valparaíso.
According to the report, the presence of senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) — appointed as a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic — and the possible participation of deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL), which has not yet been confirmed, weighed on Lula’s decision to cancel the trip. The Brazilian president had previously confirmed his presence and the trip to Chile was scheduled for this Tuesday (10).
With Lula’s absence, the Brazilian government will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira.
Who is José Antonio Kast
José Antonio Kast, 59 years old, is a lawyer and one of the main figures on the Chilean right. A practicing Catholic and declared admirer of General Augusto Pinochet, the politician built his campaign with a hard-line speech against crime.
He will assume the presidency of Chile from March 11, 2026 to March 11, 2030. His government’s main challenge will be to stabilize the country after a decade marked by social protests, the impacts of the pandemic, the failure of the constitutional change process and the increased feeling of insecurity.
Kast’s victory represents one of the biggest political changes in Chile in recent decades and is part of a broader scenario of advancement of right-wing governments in Latin America, driven by growing concerns about issues such as crime and immigration, which have come to occupy the center of political debate in several countries in the region.
