SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s ultra-conservative former lawmaker José Antonio Kast has secured a stunning victory in the presidential election, defeating the candidate of the center-left governing coalition and setting the stage for the country’s most right-wing government in 35 years of democracy. Kast won 58.2% of the votes on Sunday as Chileans overwhelmingly embraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status and revive the sluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations. His challenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara, clinched 41.8%. Kast’s election represents the latest in a string of elections that have turfed out incumbents across Latin America, vaulting the right wing to power.
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