SOUNDS FAMILIAR

Far-Right Populist Who Wants to Build Anti-Migrant Ditch Takes Lead in Chile Election

Jose Antonio Kast has around 28 percent of the vote with most ballots counted.

A far-right, anti-migrant populist who has been compared to Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump has taken a commanding lead in the first round of Chile’s presidential election. According to Reuters, Jose Antonio Kast took around 28 percent of the vote with most ballots counted on Sunday, taking the lead over leftist ex-student leader Gabriel Boric on 25.6 percent. The results mean those two polarized candidates will face off against each other next month. Kast, the father of nine children, has denied that he’s from the extreme right of politics—but he rails against marriage equality, abortion, and political correctness. One of his familiar-sounding proposals is to build a ditch to stop illegal immigration into the country. The runoff between Boric and Kast will be held Dec. 19.