Chile’s new president sees approval sink

Kast, an ultra-conservative Catholic, won Chile’s presidential runoff in a landslide last December, taking nearly 60% of the vote with promises to be tough on crime and immigration. But almost immediately after he took office in March, his approval ratingbegan to fall, and has now plummeted some 30 points overall. A leading reason is a recent scandal in which his justice ministry approved the early release of certain sex offenders. But voters are also upset about economic stagnation and high inflation, something that was always going to be a challenge for Kast, despite his campaign focus on crime. Kast, Chile’s most rightwing leader since the Pinochet dictatorship ended in the 1980s, is one of several leaders representing a recent rightward shift in Latin American politics — but his swift decline is a reminder that anti-incumbency in the region can still be a more powerful force than ideology.