Friday, July 3rd 2026 - 08:55 UTC
Kast held that security is the main condition for economic development and described organized crime as a “cancer” affecting all of Latin America
Chile's President José Antonio Kast argued on Wednesday in Montevideo that the region's countries must toughen their laws to combat organized crime, with life sentences for those who lead gangs and a regime of total isolation in prisons to stop them from continuing to operate from behind bars. The president laid out his position after meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, as part of an official visit to Uruguay.
During a breakfast organized by the Marketing Executives Association, Kast held that security is the main condition for economic development and described organized crime as a “cancer” affecting all of Latin America. He linked his proposals to the Santiago Agreement, the initiative promoted by Chilean diplomacy to coordinate the fight against organized crime at a regional level, which Uruguay and Paraguay have said they intend to join. “What we have to seek is for all our laws to move forward so that a life sentence applies to those who lead the organization. We must apply the most drastic penalties to them and keep them in conditions of total isolation,” he said.
