STORY: Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as Chile's president on Wednesday (March 11), ushering in the country’s sharpest shift to the right in decades as voters, alarmed by rising insecurity, backed a broader conservative turn sweeping parts of Latin America.

In his first address to the nation, Kast described a country riddled with organized crime and weak finances and painted his administration as an emergency government aimed at fixing those problems.

"They've handed us a country in conditions worse than we imagined...Chile needs an emergency government and that's what we'll be," Kast said, addressing a crowd of thousands of supporters who gathered outside La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago on Wednesday night.

Kast also called for unity and said the government would conduct audits across the government and crack down on crime, immigration and corruption.

Before addressing the crowd, Kast signed a number of presidential decrees with several focused on improving border security in the country's northern desert region as well as a full audit of the state's finances.

Kast has promised to clamp down on migration and crime while boosting economic growth through deregulation, spending cuts and market-friendly policy.

Kast takes office from left-wing President Gabriel Boric - who beat him in 2021 - as Chile grapples with rising crime, economic jitters, and global market turmoil sparked by the Iran war.

Protesters also gathered in Valparaiso and Santiago throughout the day, clashing with police and shouting chants against imperialism, capitalism, the United States and Kast before being dispersed by water cannons and tear gas.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: JOSE ANTONIO KAST DELIVERING FIRST SPEECH AS PRESIDENT OF CHILE FROM LA MONEDA PALACE / SOUNDBITES FROM KAST AND HIS SUPPORTERS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: SANTIAGO, CHILE (MARCH 11, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PEOPLE GATHERING NEAR LA MONEDA PALACE

2. VARIOUS OF CHILE PRESIDENT, JOSE ANTONIO KAST, ENTERING LA MONEDA PALACE

3. VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF KAST

4. VARIOUS OF KAST ENTERING LA MONEDA PALACE

5. CHILEAN FLAG WAVING

6. KAST WITH HIS WIFE MARIA PIA ADRIASOLA ON BALCONY, GREETING PEOPLE

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF CHILE, JOSE ANTONIO KAST, SAYING:

"They've handed us a country in conditions worse than we imagined. A country with weakened public finances. A country where organized crime and drug trafficking have advanced. A country where families feel abandoned by the state. Saying that we received the country in bad conditions is not an excuse, we say it because Chile deserves to know the truth."

8. VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS WAVING FLAGS AND LISTENING TO KAST'S SPEECH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF CHILE, JOSE ANTONIO KAST, SAYING:

"Chile needs an emergency government and that's what we'll be. An emergency government is not a slogan, it is the reality that we are going to live."

10. VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO KAST'S SPEECH

11. PRESIDENT KAST WITH HIS WIFE ON BALCONY

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF CHILE, JOSE ANTONIO KAST, SAYING:

"And Chile today has real adversaries and they are not those who think differently from us in politics. They are not those who vote differently from us, they are those who have taken over our neighbourhoods, those who have corrupted our youth, those who have sown terror in the communities; and Chile's adversaries are also those who have entered by violating our borders to commit crimes, to exploit others or to turn our soil into no man's land. To those true adversaries of Chile I say that we are not going to negotiate, we are going to pursue them, we are going to find them, we are going to judge them and we are going to condemn them."

13. KAST WITH HIS WIFE ON BALCONY

14. KAST SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

15. KAST ON PRESIDENTIAL PALACE BALCONY

16. VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS

17. PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) KAST SUPPORTER, JAQUELINE ESPARZA, SAYING:

"For me the call is for calm. Today we have a republican celebration, a celebration where we come to hear the speech of the president we voted for, the elected one. But my call is always for calm, to be prudent. Obviously we expect improvements, obviously we expect a change that we can notice."

19. VARIOUS OF KAST SUPPORTERS

20. SIGN READING (Spanish): "PRISON FOR BORIC"

21. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) KAST SUPPORTER, RICARDO ESPINOZA, SAYING:

"We feel they robbed us. The (previous) government I believe was the most corrupt that has existed in Chile and now we are calling for security and moving forward with what's left, because in reality I think... it's really bad."

22. VARIOUS OF KAST SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO KAST'S SPEECH