San Francisco Frontiers - Chile protesters see shades of Pinochet in new security plan

The police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse the protesters as they moved through the central Plaza Italia chanting that Kast is "just like Pinochet."

Kast took office in March promising to crack down hard on organized crime and illegal immigration.

He is Chile's most right-wing leader since the end of Pinochet's brutal 1973-1990 military dictatorship.

To tackle crime, Kast's government has proposed eight constitutional amendments.

One would allow the president to declare a state of emergency for up to eight months, without congressional approval, in the event of a serious threat to public security.

Authorities would have powers to restrict basic freedoms such as freedom of movement and assembly and, most controversially of all, intercept communications in specific geographic areas.

The reforms, which have yet to be debated in Congress, have drawn criticism from rights groups, opposition leaders and even members of the ruling coalition.

"He is giving himself powers that a president in a democracy shouldn't have," Camila Aramena, a 22-year-old public administration student who took part in the protest, told AFP.

Chile is one of the safest countries in Latin America but has been rocked by a surge in murders and kidnappings in recent years, coinciding with the arrival of foreign crime gangs such as Venezuela's Tren de Aragua.

The homicide rate was 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, twice what it was a decade earlier.

F.Garcia--SFF