Conservative President-elect of Chile José Antonio Kast proclaimed, “Liberty advances in Latin America,” in a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei.
The Chilean president-elect said that his country will have a good relationship with its neighbor Argentina.
Kast, who will take office as next president of Chile in March 2026, traveled to Buenos Aires on Tuesday, his first official visit as president-elect after obtaining an overwhelming victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff election against communist former minister Jeannette Jara.
The Chilean president-elect told reporters that Argentina is the first of several regional destinations that he intends to visit to “see how we can bring good examples to Chile.”
President Milei received Kast in Buenos Aires at the Casa Rosada (“Pink House”), the presidential palace, and congratulated Kast on his sweeping electoral triumph. Kast described his day in Argentina with Milei as “intense” and detailed in a social media post that his agenda covered security, immigration, and economic renewal, the three main subjects of his successful presidential campaign in Chile.
In an official press release, Argentina’s Office of the Presidency said that Kast’s choice of the country as his first destination reflects the importance of the bilateral relationship between the neighboring nations, “which will enter a phase of renewed momentum and commitment to addressing the main challenges on the common agenda, as well as regional and global issues.” Milei confirmed that he will visit Chile to attend Kast’s inauguration on March 11, 2026.
“At this first meeting, both leaders outlined a roadmap for joint work starting next March, when José Antonio Kast takes office as President of the Republic,” the press release detailed, “and established priorities in the areas of regional and border security, the fight against transnational organized crime, the promotion of trade and investment, and cooperation in key sectors of the economy.”
A short clip, republished by Milei on his Instagram account, shows him and Kast next to the Argentine president’s iconic chainsaw. Kast says “If there is good news, it is that liberty advances throughout Latin America,” before Milei exclaims his widely-famous catchphrase, “Long live liberty, damn it!”
Liberty Advances is the name of Milei’s libertarian political party, the first explicitly libertarian party to win a presidency in any country in modern history.
Although neither Kast nor Milei disclosed specific details of their two-hour private meeting, the Chilean president-elect described it as a “very good meeting, very good,” in remarks to reporters. According to the Argentine newspaper La Nación, Milei is “enthusiastic” about establishing good relations with his neighbor Chile after two years of “coldness and some disagreements” with the administration of outgoing far-left President Gabriel Boric.
Initially, it was reportedly expected that both Milei and Kast would salute Chileans gathered outside from within the presidential palace’s balcony, but then Kast preferred to approach the palace’s fence and greet the local Chilean community in person — something that, La Nacion said, was a “difficult task, given the number of cameras and journalists present.”
“Everything will be fine, we will have a very good relationship with Argentina,” Kast reportedly told the group of Chileans.
Argentine and Chilean outlets reported that Kast met with Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo and his team before meeting with Milei. Kast also extended an invitation to Argentina’s Secretary of Economic Policy José Luis Daza to join him as Chile’s Economy, Energy, and Mining Minister.
Daza, an economist, is a dual Argentine-Chilean national born in Buenos Aires at a time when his father, a Chilean career diplomat, was stationed in Argentina. Prior to serving the Argentine government, Daza served as Kast’s economic advisor during his 2021 presidential campaign.
“We started our careers together, I have enormous confidence in him, and yes, obviously President Kast has made him an offer and he is considering it,” Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo said. “José Luis is top class and even above that, which is why I told him: ‘Do whatever the challenge inspires you to do and whatever you want most.’”
Daza reportedly confirmed that he received an offer from Kast during an appearance on a local economic podcast when asked by Argentine conservative commentator Daniel “Gordo Dan” Parisini, but it remains publicly unknown at press time if he accepted the offer or not.
The Argentine outlet Infobae pointed out on Tuesday that Kast cited Milei’s government as a model of fiscal discipline during his presidential campaign, stating, “economically, we are going to apply rigorous fiscal discipline, where we are not going to spend what we do not have. We have seen how they have done it on the other side of the mountain range. Here we are going to be just as drastic with political spending.”
Milei was among the first heads of state to publicly congratulate Kast on his sweeping electoral victory. The Argentine president published a map of South America showing most of its lower half now has right-wing governments. Milei wrote, “The left is retreating. Freedom is advancing.”
“The guiding principles that will shape this new phase of bilateral relations will be, above all, the defense of freedom, life, and private property, in a spirit of cooperation and mutual trust,” the Argentine Office of the Presidency stressed. “and with the firm political will to embark on a path of sustained growth for both countries and greater security in the region.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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