CHILE’S far-right politician Jose Antonio Kast was sworn in as president today, marking the Latin American nation’s most drastic shift rightwards since the return of democracy in 1990.

The political veteran won a landslide victory in December against government-backed communist candidate Jeannette Jara with the promise of fighting crime and curbing illegal immigration.

While Mr Kast has avoided commenting on controversial issues at home and abroad, he has made overtures to US President Donald Trump’s administration and praised its kidnapping of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

These signals intensified recently when Mr Kast abruptly ended the transition process following a clash with outgoing President Gabriel Boric over a project to install a submarine cable to connect Chile and China.

“Everything indicates a very significant alignment of Chile with the directives emanating from Washington,” said Gilberto Aranda, a political analyst at the University of Chile.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies approved a defence agreement on Tuesday allowing the “temporary” presence of US military personnel inside its borders.

The Status of Forces Agreement was approved by a large majority of politicians and now awaits the signature of President Santiago Pena to take effect.

Mr Pena, one of Mr Trump’s closest allies in the region, is expected to sign the deal in the coming days.

The agreement passed with 53 votes in favour and eight against, and four abstentions out of a total 80. Fifteen were not present for the vote.

Signed by both countries in Washington in December, the agreement establishes a legal framework for the presence of US forces in Paraguay for training, joint exercises, and humanitarian assistance.

It also authorises the US to have criminal jurisdiction over its personnel while in the country.

“The security of a country is not built by importing troops or shielding foreign agents with diplomatic immunities,” said Peace and Justice Service, a civil society organisation which has a presence across Latin America, in a statement released days before the final vote.

The treaty, it added, “does not represent progress in security, but rather the formalisation of a geopolitics of impunity that undermines the pillars of our national dignity.”