La Moneda, the presidential palace of Chile, has a new host since Wednesday after the ultraconservative Catholic José Antonio Kast has taken office. The country thus materializes the political shift expressed at the polls in December and kicks off the most right-wing executive that Chile has had since the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In fact, Kast, with a discourse similar to that of other far-right leaders in favor of deregulating the market and cutting public aid, and in which he conflates immigration and crime, has openly defended the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende.

Telefónica is leaving Chile, the first country where it kicked off its international expansion in 1989. telecom Telefónica Móviles Chile, chaired by Marc Murtra, has sold its Chilean subsidiary, Telefónica Móviles Chile, to NJJ Holding and Millicom Spain for €1.03 billion. According to a statement released by the company to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the transaction includes a variable payment of approximately €126 million contingent on "certain events" in the Chilean telecommunications market. The total amount includes a cash payment of €42 million and a further €286 million linked to the Chilean subsidiary's financial performance. This sale marks the continuation of the Spanish company's exit from Latin America, as outlined in its strategic plan. Telefónica has already sold its subsidiaries in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Uruguay, which impacted the company's November results due to the losses recorded from these transactions. Colombia has joined the four countries already mentioned, where the sale of the subsidiary for approximately €182 million (based on the current exchange rate) has just been finalized. In addition to Chile, Mexico and Venezuela are expected to be added to the list. "We will expand beyond Spanish-speaking America," Murtra confirmed. during the presentation of the strategic plan in NovemberThe withdrawal from territories like Chile, the first country where Telefónica established a presence, would mark the end of an expansion that began in 1989. In parallel with these divestments, the company is making moves to strengthen its position in Europe through sector consolidation.telecomis finalizing the purchase of Netomnia, the UK's fourth-largest broadband network operator, for around £2 billion (€2.3 billion), according to reports.Financial TimesHowever, this consolidation strategy remains surrounded by major unknowns, especially considering the role regulators play in operations like this.

A couple of years ago, Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín premiered The CountA film that portrayed, in a farcical or grotesque tone, the dictator Augusto Pinochet as an aging vampire who hovered over the country in his general's cape. He also squeezed the hearts of his victims and, with their blood, made smoothies that gave him the vigor necessary to carry out his nocturnal flights. The film's metaphor was obvious, but nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of that, it worked powerfully: after all, Pinochet—like other dictators, from Franco to Putin, and any others you can think of—did indeed possess a certain vampiric appearance. And his regime, which ravaged Chile between 1973 and 1990, was indeed a bath of blood and squeezed hearts. And broken, and drowned, and shot, and tortured.

Chile has elected José Antonio Kast (Santiago, 1966), 59, as its president for the next four years. An ultraconservative Catholic, the son of a member of the German Nazi party, he defends the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende's government, led by Augusto Pinochet, which he considers an episode in history starring "men and women who rose up to prevent the Marxist revolution in our land." The president-elect is the first in the country's democratic history to openly defend the dictatorship that lasted until 1990, leaving 40,000 victims of torture, political imprisonment, murder, and forced disappearance.

The far right is celebrating in Chile. José Antonio Kast He achieved a resounding victory this Sunday, with 58.1% of the vote, compared to the progressive candidate Jeannette Jara, who only managed 41.8% of the support, a result quite close to what the polls predicted. Voter turnout was extremely high, at 85%, because voting was once again mandatory in the country. The celebration at Kast's party headquarters in Santiago was monumental, and Jara—a member of the Communist Party, with a center-left platform—immediately posted a tweet announcing that she had already spoken with Kast by phone to congratulate him. In his first speech as president-elect, Kast reinforced the key points of his platform: public safety, immigration control, and the fight against drug trafficking, and promised that Chile "will once again be free from crime, anguish, and fear." Jara responded: "In everything that is good for Chile, you will find my support," she said, "and in anything that could set us back, you will find a firm, democratic and responsible opposition."

Nearly 15,800,000 Chileans are called to the polls this Sunday to elect their next president. Gabriel Boric, the young progressive who has governed Chile for the past four years, will succeed him. the outbreak In 2018, Boric left La Moneda Palace with a 28% approval rating, a figure that, while not low compared to previous presidents, doesn't immediately favor the left-wing candidate, Jeannette Jara, who had been his Minister of Labor and is seen by many Chileans as a continuation of a government that has become increasingly dysfunctional. The polls are clear: the winner this Sunday would be the far-right candidate, José Antonio Kast (58%), who In the first round, it surpassed the traditional right wing, represented by Evelyn Matthei, and also by the more radical wing of Johannes Kaiser, which will likely now garner all of their votes. Jara, for her part, ran as the only progressive candidate, supported by nine political formations from the Chilean left and center-left. In this second round, polls give her 42% of the vote.

Progressive Jeannette Jara and far-right candidate José Antonio Kast will face each other in a runoff election for the presidency of Chile on December 14. This is the result of Sunday's elections, in which the communist candidate won with 26.8% of the vote, lower than predicted by the polls. Kast obtained 23.9%, a result that positions him as the favorite to unite the conservative vote. The surprise of the day was Franco Parisi, a candidate outsiderThe candidate campaigning against traditional parties and the establishment, promising "bullet or prison" for criminals, garnered nearly 20% of the vote. The biggest loser was the traditional right wing, led by Evelyn Matthei, which failed to surpass 12.4%. Election day was peaceful and saw very high voter turnout (86.5%, a figure attributed to the reinstatement of mandatory voting). The right turn is confirmed.

Millions of voters participated this Sunday in the presidential and legislative elections in Chile, on a day when voting was mandatory for the first time and which was marked by crowds and long lines at polling stations. More than 15.7 million people were eligible to vote, including more than 800,000 foreigners. However, there were no significant incidents. The first to vote was Johannes Kaiser, leader of the newly created National Libertarian Party and considered the phenomenon of these elections, since until a few weeks ago he was not considered a presidential candidate. "I have pledged my support to any candidate who opposes the continuation of this bad government," he declared in a central neighborhood of the capital. Kaiser burst onto the electoral scene with radical proposals on security and immigration. He also defends "without hesitation" the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and ultraconservative policies regarding individual liberties.

More than 15 million Chileans are called to the polls this Sunday to elect a new president to succeed the current one. progressive Gabriel Boric The first round of voting will take place on March 11. According to the latest polls, no candidate will secure enough support—more than 50% of the vote—to become president, necessitating a runoff election scheduled for December 14. However, Sunday's results will be crucial in understanding Chile's future, as they will confirm the composition of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and resolve the biggest question so far: which of the three right-wing candidates will advance to the second round?

To the extensive cycle that the Filmoteca of Catalonia dedicates starting this Thursday to the Chilean director Valeria Sarmiento (Valparaiso, Chile, 1948) and her sentimental and creative partner, Raoul Ruiz, who died in 2011, a film could be added in which Sarmiento participated as a7 Ocaña. Intermittent Portrait, Ventura Pons's debut film. "It was a very beautiful film, and Ocaña was a wonderful character," he says with a sweet smile, as if unlocking a distant memory, celebrating the film's relevance in the history of LGBT cinema. "I made it because Ventura was a friend of the Chilean photographer Luis Poirot, who told him about me," he says.

"In the exhibition we did not want to talk about the pain of the dictatorship, but rather about a unique moment in which there was hope to change the world," says Pedro Ignacio Alonso, who, along with Eden Medina and Hugo Palmarola, curated How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Way to Design, which can be visited at the Disseny Hub Barcelona until November 16. The exhibition opened in 2023 in Santiago de Chile during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Pinochet's coup d'état And for now, it can only be seen in Barcelona. The only trace of Pinochet is an image of the military burning a poster that was exhibited at the 36th Venice Biennale.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale has struck the southern tip of Chile, in the Magallanes region, triggering a tsunami warning. Chilean authorities initially urged evacuation of the coast of this Patagonian region. However, the precautionary measure remains in effect because "the threat of a tsunami still exists," but it is limited only to the beach area and the coast of Magallanes, and the preventive evacuation has been deactivated. In Argentina, local authorities have recommended preventive evacuations to Ushuaia, according to local newspapers.

Shakira has surprised her Chilean fans with an unexpected concert at the entrance of the Mandarin Hotel in Santiago de Chile, where she was staying. The Colombian singer was due to play in the capital, but both of her performances have been cancelled due to technical problems with the stage.