Chile President José Antonio Kast embroiled in Villarrica incident and police pardon bid

President José Antonio Kast was involved in a tense exchange in Villarrica, Araucanía, where he addressed a child who refused to shake his hand. The boy's mother intervened, and later police detained her, citing an existing arrest warrant for fraud. A witness present at the event confirmed that Kast spoke only to the child before the mother responded, and that the police took the mother into custody while the child was left on the street.

Separately, Kast, together with Johannes Kaiser, has launched a campaign to secure pardons for police officers convicted of offenses during Chile's 2019 social unrest. Critics argue the initiative seeks to recast those convicted as victims of political persecution and to use the pardon mechanism as a de facto amnesty, raising concerns about accountability for serious crimes linked to the protests.