Chile’s outgoing leftist government on Monday elevated a note of protest against Colombia in response to a series of unhinged insults made by far-left President Gustavo Petro against Chilean conservative President-elect José Antonio Kast.
Petro called Kast a “Nazi” and accused him of being the “son of Hitler” in a series of social media posts, adding he would never shake hands with him, among other disparaging comments.
“We have delivered a note of protest to the Colombian ambassador in Chile to express our annoyance at the unacceptable remarks made by the Colombian president regarding the presidential election in our country,” Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren told reporters Monday.
Hours later, Interior Minister Álvaro Elizalde confirmed that Chile will elevate a protest to Colombia over Petro’s remarks and called on everyone around the world and all authorities to respect Chile’s democratic decisions.
“Yes, a decision has been made on that point to uphold the view that has to do with Chilean democracy. Ultimately, the people of Chile decide, and we all have to respect that outcome. That is what democracy is all about,” Elizalde told reporters.
Kast, a 59-year-old conservative politician and former lawmaker, obtained an overwhelming victory in Sunday’s runoff election against his opponent, communist former minister Jeannette Jara. Kast won in all of Chile’s 16 states and in 90 percent of all 346 municipalities. The incumbent president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, endorsed and campaigned for Jara.
Kast will take office as next president of Chile on March 11, 2026, succeeding Boric.
The president-elect received numerous calls of congratulations from heads of state and government officials including those of the United States, Italy, Argentina, and Israel, among others. Kast also received congratulations from Latin American far-left Presidents Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Kast’s victory appears to have greatly affected Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president ever and a former member of the Marxist M19 terrorist guerrilla. Throughout the late-night hours of Sunday and the early morning hours of Monday, Petro levied several accusations against Kast in three separate social media rants.
In his first message, Petro claimed, “from the south and from the north come the winds of death,” in response to Argentine President Javier Milei, who published a map of South America showing its lower half now has right-wing governments. Milei wrote, “The left is retreating. Freedom is advancing.”
Petro warned “Grancolombians” that “they are coming for us and we must resist with [Venezuelan founding father Simón] Bolívar’s sword raised high and the stride of victors.” Gran Colombia was a short-lived 18th century nation that Petro has expressed interest in restoring.
Petro continued, saying, “My tweet about the progressive defeat in Chile has been blocked, I hope it recovers,” but did not explain what the message that was allegedly “blocked” was.
Minutes later, Petro delivered a second, longer rant where he lashed out against Kast and accused him of being a Nazi, asserting that “fascism is advancing.”
“I will never shake hands with a Nazi or a Nazi’s child; they are death incarnate. It is sad that Pinochet had to impose himself by force, but it is even sadder now that the people are choosing their own Pinochet: whether elected or not, they are Hitler’s children, and Hitler kills people. He is the devil against life, and all Latin Americans know how to resist,” Petro wrote.
“Take care of [Late Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo] Neruda’s grave, I said in the censored tweet. I was near his grave and in his house, and I was happy near that house and saw the starry skies and the blue stars twinkling in the distance, but I was not abandoned at all,” he concluded.
The Associated Press reported in 2021 that Kast’s father, Michael Kast, was a member of the German Nazi Party before fleeing to Chile after World War II. The Associated Press pointed out at the time that there is no evidence that Kast participated in the Nazi genocide against the Jewish people. The Colombian magazine Samana detailed on Monday that, although documentation confirmed Michael Kast’s Nazi Party membership, “there is no public evidence that he has held political leadership positions or participated in war crimes.”
President-elect Kast, referring to his father’s history, noted that military recruitment was compulsory in Germany at the time and stressed that he and his family “abhor the Nazis.” Kast pointed out in past interviews that his father was able to return to Germany several times without any charges being brought against him.
Petro, on Monday morning, continued his insults against Chile and Kast, comparing the “defeat” in Chile to a hypothetical victory in Colombia by “Cabal or Rubio,” apparently alluding to Colombian conservative Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio is not a Colombian citizen and would not be eligible to run for president there.
“Fascism in Chile will not last 40 years. Times have changed. I know what is happening. I will not return to La Moneda as I did in the past. They have killed the president again,” Petro wrote. “To the youth of Chile, I say: embrace life and never associate yourselves with death.”
Petro continued by asserting that “Rubio is spreading the circle of hatred,” and referred to alleged “indigenous divisions in Bolivia” and socialist former President Luis Arce, who was recently detained by Bolivian authorities as part of an ongoing corruption probe.
“They already have [former President Pedro] Castillo in prison in Peru, the old white oligarchy could not stand Peru being led by a village teacher. They surrounded us with imprisoned presidents because they want to corner us,” Petro wrote, referring to communist former President Castillo, who tried to dissolve Congress and staged a failed coup in 2022. Castillo was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison on rebellion charges in late November.
“Corner the idea of a libertarian Gran Colombia and the Caribbean. They want to leave us alone, as in One Hundred Years of Solitude [a novel], but we are the vital heart of the world, and this heart cannot die in the face of the liberticides. Long live Free Colombia! We have resisted for five centuries, and we will shout ‘Freedom,’” Petro concluded his rant.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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