COLUMN | Kast and Chile's Foreign Policy

Navigating naively and innocently is no longer an option, nor is repeating the mistakes of the outgoing administration in foreign policy.

José Antonio Kast was elected President of Chile by a significant majority that sought to address the emergencies we face in public security and the economy. He has not yet taken office, and priorities seem to have shifted not because security and economic issues have lost their importance, but because external factors have emerged with great force., taking over the agenda and timelines of the new administration, as well as affecting the IPSA and the value of the Chilean peso.

When both the first and second rounds of voting took place, the United States already had a powerful fleet stationed off the coast of Venezuela, anticipating potential actions against the Maduro regime, which ultimately occurred on Saturday, January 3, 2026, when the opportunity to capture him and bring him to justice in New York was opened.

Since late November 2025, the new national security policy of the United States was a subject of analysis among diplomats, specialists, and academics, as was the policy that China published shortly thereafter for the Americas. Moreover, the arrival of Ambassador Brandon Judd allowed us to better understand his country’s priorities, which revolve around its national interest and national security, particularly regarding preventing China from having investments and influence in strategic matters and critical infrastructure, which in Chile mainly pertains to mining, electricity generation and distribution, and all aspects of data processing, storage, and transmission.

However, it was not until Friday, February 20, 2026, a hot summer day in a Chile where most people were on vacation, that we understood and felt firsthand how the world and priorities had changed. It was enough for three officials from the Boric government to have their visas revoked for priorities and emergencies to shift from local to international,affecting primarily the design of the team and management model that was to be implemented starting March 11.

Since that Friday, February 20, the issue known as Cablegate has dominated the local agenda,, generating not only a search to understand what we had gotten into but also harsh discussions between the incoming and outgoing governments, but mainly demonstrating our inexperience in matters of national security and investments in strategic industries and the amateurish way we handle relations with the two main powers, one dominant in the Americas and the other our main trading partner.

By constitutional mandate, the President is responsible for conducting Chile’s international relations, setting priorities based on national interest, which the Foreign Ministry is supposed to shape and manage. The recent crisis generated by the Cablegate case indicates that the Foreign Ministry was unable to manage this problem correctly or was outright out of the loop, which we do not expect to happen with the new administration, which must leverage the cable crisis to improve the institutional framework regarding strategic investments, the management of relations with the United States of America, and the People’s Republic of China.

In the new complex global geopolitical reality, which became even more complicated with the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, it is essential to have personnel in the Foreign Ministry and in the President’s advisory team who understand the key dynamics of the current world, not just the economic or investment aspects that were previously anticipated to be the priority.

Global security and relations between powers dominated the conferences in Davos and Munich. It is crucial to have a clear understanding of what matters to Chile and the aspects that shape national interest, issues where I am confident the designated chancellor will demonstrate the intelligence that characterizes him, which, combined with the experience of the new undersecretaries, will be key in conducting Chile’s foreign relations.

We do expect that appointments to key positions such as the Secretary General, the Strategic Planning Directorate, and major embassies such as those in Washington, Beijing, London, and Madrid, as well as those in neighboring countries, reflect the knowledge and experience that the complex global reality demands of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to manage and advise the Presidency of the Republic in the best possible way, which will now have to simultaneously address local emergencies alongside the international ones that have arisen.

In conclusion, prioritizing an institutional framework that addresses national security and, on the other hand, having arobust and effective intelligence system are issues that should be given high priority, as they help navigate the turbulent waters and storms that lie ahead on the horizon. Navigating naively and innocently is no longer an option, nor is repeating the mistakes of the outgoing administration in foreign policy,one that reflected the ideologies of the Broad Front and President Boric’s ideas on the matter. What ultimately matters is to protect and safeguard the national interest.