Chilean politician José Antonio Kast is the new president of the Political Network for Values (PNfV), his appointment was announced on March 3 at a meeting of the Board of Directors.

Kast replaces Katalin Novák, former Hungarian Family Minister and current president of Hungary, in the position. Novák had been at the helm of the Network since April 2019 and resigned due to the legal requirements of her new responsibility.

José Antonio Kast Rist has been a member of the PNfV since 2015, when he participated in the Regional Summit of the Americas in Washington; and in 2019 he joined the Advisory Council. He was born in Santiago on January 18, 1966; he is a lawyer, educated at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; married to María Pía Adriasola Barroilhet, with whom he has 9 children.

He is the founder of the successful civic movement Republican Action, of the Republican Ideas think tank and of the Republican Party (PR), with which he ran last year for the presidency of Chile and obtained an enormous support that took him to the second round of elections. Today, the Republicans are the first truly conservative political force in the country and have 15 parliamentarians, the third largest bench per party in the Chamber of Deputies.

Before founding the PR, Kast was councilman of Buin, a municipality located south of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, from 1996 to 2000; and deputy for the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) from 2002 to 2018.

José Antonio Kast is a consolidated reference for politicians and civic activists in Latin America for his consistent performance over two decades in the defense and promotion of human dignity, life, family and fundamental freedoms. His consistent, courageous and firm position has also earned him the active opposition of radical political and pressure groups.

According to Lola Velarde, executive director of the PNfV, with Katalin Novák, the Network faced the onset of the pandemic and responded by intensifying contact among its members through a series of regular online meetings; the result was the consolidation and expansion of the platform, the active communication among its members and their involvement in international initiatives.

“With Kast, our Network confirms a trajectory with experienced politicians at the forefront, who combine clarity of ideas with coherence, courage and audacity in their actions. Kast is a politician of integrity who will undoubtedly lead our platform to greater articulation and a more effective impact on the global stage,” she said.