The leader of the Chilean Republican Party and presidential candidate for November 16, José Antonio Kast, was received in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Kast leads the polls by two points over Jeannette Jara, the communist candidate and former Minister of Labour in Gabriel Boric’s government.
- He would win 47% against 33% in a potential runoff.
- His visit to Rome highlights Fratelli d’Italia’s growing international projection and the attempt to build political ties in Latin America.
What he said. The Chilean political leader wrote on Instagram: “Italy has declared a national emergency, closed the doors to illegal immigration, and restored order at its borders. Meloni and I talked about how to apply these lessons in Chile: firmness, control, and security for families.”
Who is Kast in a nutshell:
- Lawyer, 59 years old, and father of nine children.
- Leader of the Republican Party, running for the fourth time in the presidential race.
- Shares with Meloni a pro-life, pro-family agenda, opposing “gender ideology” and supporting religious freedom.
- Wants to repeal the abortion law and introduce a permanent support plan for motherhood.
- Known for strong positions: in 2018, he was attacked by students at Arturo Prat University and ended up in the hospital.
- Launched the “September of the Homeland,” an initiative to gather popular demands and translate them into government goals.
The (geo)political dimension. The visit is part of a South American projection strategy by Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), the right-wing party founded by Meloni.
- Carlo Fidanza, head of the FdI delegation in the European Parliament and vice-president of ECR and the EuroLat delegation (Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly), leads efforts to strengthen ties with Latin America.
- Last June, in Lima, Peru’s capital, FdI participated in the EuroLat Parliamentary Assembly, where European and Latin American MPs discussed ways to improve political and trade relations.
- Broader goal: increase Europe’s presence in a region increasingly exposed to Chinese and Russian penetration.
