Chile’s president begins building border barrier less than week into term

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Aleks Phillips

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Reuters

Only a small portion of the planned barrier has so far been cut into the Atacama desert

Chile’s new president has begun work on a border barrier just five days after being sworn into office.

José Antonio Kast appeared at the site along Chile’s northern border with Peru on Monday to inspect the trench and chat to construction workers, hailing it as the first step towards meeting his campaign promise to stem illegal immigration.

Only a small portion of the planned barrier has so far been cut into the arid Atacama desert - a ditch a few feet wide and deep.

It is one of several policies of Kast’s that echo pledges by US President Donald Trump - who has made constructing a wall at the Mexican border a common refrain at rallies and a crucial part of his own immigration policy.

Echoing his rhetoric on the campaign trail, Kast said Chile had been “violated by illegal immigration, drug trafficking and organised crime”, adding that he wanted to used the diggers behind him to “build a sovereign Chile”.

“For all of Chile, this is a milestone,” he said while at the site, near the border town of Arica.

Kast has portrayed Chile as a country descending into chaos and insecurity, and prior to his election pledged to restore order and implement sharp spending cuts.

Chile is one of the safest and most stable countries in South America - but a rise in immigration and organised crime has spread concern among Chileans.

Chile’s foreign population has risen sharply in the past decade, jumping from less than 600,000 in 2015 to more than 1.5 million in 2024, according to World Bank data.

Its government estimates that about 336,000 of these are undocumented migrants, many from Venezuela.

Reuters

José Antonio Kast (second from right) hailed the project as a “milestone” for Chile

The trench-digging on Monday marks the start of the “border shield” promise that helped Kast win the presidency by 58% in December.

Trenches and fences will compose the barrier, patrolled by military personnel. The Chilean government said surveillance systems and obstacles would also be installed to deter crossings.

The nation’s border with Peru spans around 180km and a further 900km with Bolivia - though its interior ministry has said the barrier will only cover roughly half of this.

The election of Kast, who succeeded left-winger Gabriel Boric as president, marks the nation’s most abrupt rightward shift since the end of its military dictatorship in 1990. He has openly praised Chile’s former right-wing dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Kast is also an admirer of Trump and the two appear poised to align on several issues including undocumented migration. As well as co-opting a number of the US president’s policies, Kast’s supporters have been seen wearing red “Make Chile Great Again” caps - a nod to Trump’s own Maga hats.

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