The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for many
Just south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted abode facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close.
But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile.
“We have so much crime here – robberies, guns, drugs, you name it,” said María Elena Balcázar at a table in her roadside cafe opposite the Parroquia Santa María Virgen de Paine, the church where the Kast family would attend mass.
“Past eight o’clock nobody goes out anymore, everyone is scared,” she said. “People voted for José Antonio Kast because he promised strong, drastic changes.”
