Former minister José Piñera voiced his support for presidential candidate José Antonio Kast in a social media message on Saturday, less than a day before the 2025 presidential elections. Piñera, creator of the AFP pension system and a key figure during Pinochet's dictatorship, highlighted his friendship with Kast and his intent to vote for him. This endorsement adds to previous support Piñera has given to the Republican Party leader.
José Piñera, recognized as the creator of the administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP) system and former minister of Labor and Mining during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, expressed explicit support for José Antonio Kast, the Republican Party's presidential candidate, through a brief social media message on Saturday, November 15, 2025.
“I will vote tomorrow happily, very happily, for my good friend José Antonio Kast. Viva Chile,” Piñera wrote, accompanying the text with a photograph of Kast alongside his wife, María Pía Adriasola. This gesture comes mere hours before the presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, November 16.
Piñera has maintained a close relationship with Kast in recent years. In a December 2018 interview with Mesa Central on Canal 13, Kast stated that, in a potential government of his, he would appoint Piñera as finance minister. Additionally, during the 2021 presidential runoff, Piñera directly backed Kast against current President Gabriel Boric, describing him as “a champion of the free market and a man of peace” and stating that his victory would represent “the Third Chilean Miracle” after defeating Boric, whom he labeled the “champion of communism.”
This public endorsement from Piñera, an influential figure in conservative and economic circles, could sway right-wing voters in the campaign's final stretch, amid a context of political polarization centered on issues like security and migration.