José Antonio Kast’s campaign ad leaves little room for doubt. It features Milenka, the mother of a truck driver killed in 2022 in northern Chile, mourning her son’s death. “Byron Castillo was murdered by a group of illegal immigrants who violated our borders and our laws,” the far-right Partido Republicano candidate declared at a rally, standing alongside the woman who said she is determined to vote for him.

Castillo’s death triggered a truckers’ strike and road blockades across the country, with demands for greater security and stricter immigration controls. Since then, immigration has joined security and the economy as one of the main themes of the presidential and legislative campaign for the Sunday, November 16, elections, which concluded on Thursday.

Foreign nationals made up 8.8% of Chile’s population – 1.6 million people – as of 2024, double the proportion from seven years ago, driven largely by a wave of Venezuelan arrivals. Fleeing political and economic turmoil at home, Venezuelans were encouraged to settle in Chile by right-wing President Sebastian Piñera (2018-2022), who saw it as an opportunity to condemn the Nicolás Maduro regime. Today, Venezuelans account for 42.6% of foreign nationals in Chile.

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