Chile construye zanjas en la frontera con Perú para frenar a migrantes irregulares

José Antonio Kast came to the presidency promising to expel the 330,000 undocumented migrants, most of them Venezuelans. Five days after taking office, he traveled to the Arica region, on the border with Peru, to oversee the construction of trenches and gave a 90-day deadline for their completion. The barriers are part of the so-called “Border Shield,” with which his government hopes to reduce the entry of migrants into the country. During his campaign, Kast linked the increase in crime to the arrival of undocumented immigrants in the country in recent years and promised a “tough on crime” policy against irregular immigration and crime. Although murders and kidnappings have increased, and foreign criminal gangs like the Tren de Aragua have arrived in the country, Chile is still one of the safest countries in the region. The homicide rate was 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, one of the lowest in Latin America.