Brazil & Southern Cone - April 2026

Chile’s President José Antonio Kast is seeking to navigate geopolitical tensions between the US and China, highlighted by a controversy over a proposed project to install an undersea fibre-optic cable linking Chile to Hong Kong. While Kast is ideologically inclined toward boosting ties with the US government of President Donald Trump, China remains Chile’s top trading partner. The cable dispute, which triggered US security concerns, will test Kast’s ability to walk the diplomatic tightrope, as conceding to US pressure and cancelling the project could strain relations with China.

Discussions about possible projects to install a trans-Pacific fibre-optic cable have been underway for nearly a decade. According to media reports, the government of Chile’s centre-left former president Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010, 2014-2018) signed a memorandum of understanding in 2016 with China pledging to cooperate on the development of telecommunications infrastructure, and studies for the feasibility of such projects, including an undersea fibre-optic cable, continued under the next government of centre-right former president Sebastian Piñera (2010-2014, 2018-2022).

Project proposals for trans-oceanic cables gained more momentum under the previous administration led by left-wing former president Gabriel Boric (2022-2026), which announced in 2024 a public-private partnership with US tech giant Google to develop the Humboldt subsea cable, which will connect Chile and Australia, rather than China. However, discussions for a Chile-China cable continued, and the Boric government considered a proposal to install a cable to connect the city of Valparaíso in Chile to Hong Kong presented by a consortium that included Chinese companies such as the state-owned telecommunications firm China Mobile.

Chilean media outlets reported in February that the Boric administration had issued a decree in late January to approve the project presented by China Mobile and its partners but later revoked the decree for reasons that were unclear. The government later denied that the project has been authorised, insisting it was still under consideration. On 20 February the project drew the attention of the US. The Trump administration imposed visa restrictions on officials in the Boric government, including Juan Carlos Muñoz, who served as the minister for transport and telecommunications (2022-2026), with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the officials of authorising activities that “compromised telecommunications infrastructure and undermined regional security”.

These diplomatic tensions were brewing in the weeks before Kast’s inauguration on 11 March, and the cable issue also threatened the formal government transition process. Kast said that he and Boric had discussed the cable project proposal in February, but on 3 March Kast cancelled meetings for the handover process, arguing that Boric had not been fully transparent regarding the details of the project.

The criticisms of the Boric administration’s handling of the cable project came amid Kast’s increased efforts to signal closer alignment with the US government and other right-wing allies. On 7 March Kast travelled to the US to attend a summit of Latin American leaders held by Trump to launch an international counter-cartel coalition.

Kast’s inauguration event on 11 March also featured several conservative leaders from the region, such as Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña, Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz, and Argentina’s President Javier Milei. Also in attendance was far-right Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who is expected to be one of the main contenders to run in Brazil’s presidential election in October this year. Due to Bolsonaro’s presence, Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva skipped Kast’s inauguration event reportedly to avoid sharing a stage with his domestic political rival. The day after his inauguration, Kast held a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to discuss bilateral cooperation on projects to develop critical minerals.

Despite these signals of cooperation with the Trump administration and other right-wing allies, the new Kast government has, at the time of writing, not made a grand gesture to appease the US by rejecting the proposed Chile-China cable project. On the campaign trail last year, in the run-up to his victory in the second round of the presidential race in December, foreign policy was not a major focus of Kast’s campaign, which was dominated by calls to adopt a tougher stance in fighting crime and to crack down on illegal immigration. As a far-right leader, it was widely expected that Kast would be a firm Trump ally, but criticisms against China were not a prominent feature of his campaign rhetoric.

China is also Chile’s top trade partner, which may well be another consideration for the new Kast government, as rejecting a Chinese infrastructure project could impact bilateral relations. According to government data released in February, Chile’s annual exports to China reached US$38.97bn in 2025, accounting for 35.4% of Chile’s total annual exports. This is significantly higher than exports to the US, which totalled US$18.37bn and accounted for 16.7% of Chilean exports last year. Meanwhile, Chile’s imports from China totalled US$26.41bn, which made up 28.5% of total imports last year, and imports from the US totalled US$16.55bn, accounting for 17.9% of Chile’s annual imports.

The future of the Chile-China cable project appears uncertain, and it is also unclear whether the Kast administration will make a swift decision on the proposal. The first few weeks of Kast’s presidency have instead focused on high-visibility initiatives that he had promised to implement while on the campaign trail last year, such as measures to reduce immigration.

On 16 March he launched his ‘Escudo Fronterizo’ (‘Border Shield’) initiative, which involves digging ditches and building walls and fences along Chile’s northern border, as well as boosting border patrols. According to data released by polling firm Cadem on 15 March, this plan enjoys high levels of public support. When survey respondents were asked for their opinion on the Escudo Fronterizo plan, 80% said they agreed with the measure, although this was down to 63% in a later (22 March) survey. Around three quarters of respondents in the 15 March survey also expressed support for closing the border with Bolivia.

Kast travelled to Arica y Parinacota, the country’s northernmost region, to launch the border plan on 16 March, announcing construction of a ditch across 30km of Chile’s northern border. However, the border with Peru and Bolivia runs over 1,000km and it is unclear whether the government will have the resources to construct walls and ditches across a large enough area to intercept a significant proportion of illegal immigration. But given the popularity of the initiative among the public, it might be more of a matter of optics to demonstrate that the government is doing something tangible about the issue.

Regarding Kast’s declared intentions to boost cooperation with the US on critical minerals, responses were more divided. Only 41% of respondents in the 15 March survey expressed support for the declaration, while 43% said they disagreed with the measure. The pollster also asked respondents whether they thought the Chile-China cable project should be put on pause, with more than half (52%) agreeing that it should be paused, while 37% disagreed. The poll did not include a question on whether the project proposal should be rejected.

Peru alternative

According to Chilean media outlets, such as the business newspaper Diario Financiero, China Mobile and its partners are likely to choose Peru as an alternative option if the new Chilean government under President Kast decides to reject the proposed project to lay a trans-Pacific fibre-optic cable.

Bachelet for the UN leadership

According to Cadem’s polling figures published on 15 March, the public is divided on whether President Kast should support former president Michelle Bachelet’s bid to become the next secretary general of the United Nations (UN). The vote in the poll was evenly split, with 45% agreeing and 45% disagreeing that Kast should withdraw Chile’s support for Bachelet. The foreign ministry announced on 24 March that Kast’s government was indeed withdrawing Chile’s support for Bachelet’s bid, saying that “the context of this election, the fragmentation of candidacies among Latin American countries, and differences with some of the key actors shaping this process make this candidacy and its eventual success unfeasible”.