Article #260123

The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for many

Just south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted abode facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close.

But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile.