Chile moves hundreds of inmates to a new prison as President Kast ramps up security push

The Chilean government has transferred nearly 300 of the country’s most dangerous inmates to a new maximum-security prison, as conservative President José Antonio Kast seeks to regain momentum on his key campaign pledge to combat organized crime

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- The Chilean government transferred nearly 300 high-risk inmates from around the country to a sprawling new prison on Thursday, as hard-line President José Antonio Kast seeks to regain momentum on his core campaign pledge to combat organized crime.

Kast traveled to the recently opened La Laguna Prison, among Chile's biggest, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Chile's capital of Santiago, to oversee the transfer, which his government described as an effort to ease overcrowding in prisons and prevent incarcerated gang leaders from remotely running their criminal enterprises behind bars.

Footage released by the government showed inmates packed into rows with bowed heads and shackled feet, recalling images from El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has made a point of broadcasting his security crackdown on social media.

Bukele's mass incarceration campaign has sharply reduced violence but drawn allegations from human rights groups of arbitrary detention , abuse and the erosion of civil liberties .

Like other right-wing presidential contenders across Latin America , most recently in Colombia and Peru , Kast has invoked Bukele as a model for his own promises to fight organized crime.

While campaigning last year, Kast visited El Salvador to study Bukele's security policies and tour the country’s notorious mega-prison where visitation, recreation and education are not allowed.

“It's a way of sending criminals a clear message that things have changed: We are going to come after you, we are going to find you, you will be prosecuted and we are going to lock you up,” Kast said in a press conference about the transfer.

Kast's office said 298 maximum-security prisoners were moved early Thursday to La Laguna from facilities around the country, including 40 alleged members of criminal organizations, nine of them gang leaders.

Hundreds more prisoners are slated to arrive at La Laguna in stages as the government moves to fill the facility to its expected capacity of 2,097 inmates across over a dozen units, including maximum-security wings. It's equipped with 1,500 surveillance cameras, body scanners and technology designed to block cellphone signals.

The prison, billed as Chile’s most modern and secure facility, opened last year under Kast’s predecessor, left-wing President Gabriel Boric, and began receiving inmates months before Kast, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump , took office.

Kast's bid to publicize the move comes as he seeks to make good on his flagship security pledges after a bumpy start.

“If there is one issue on which the public is demanding action from all of us, it is greater security,” Kast said Thursday.