2026 in Chile
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Incumbents
- President: Gabriel Boric (CS) (until 11 March); José Antonio Kast (since 11 March)
- Minister of the Interior and Public Security: Álvaro Elizalde (until 11 March); Claudio Alvarado (since 11 March)
Events
January
- 18 January – A state of catastrophe is declared in Biobío and Ñuble Regions following wildfires that leave at least 18 people dead and displace over 50,000.[1]
February
- 6–22 February – Chile at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- 10 February –
- Telefonica announces the sale of its Chilean subsidiary to French holding company NJJ Holding and Luxembourg-based telecommunications operator Millicom for $1.2 billion.[2]
- Latam-GPT, the first open-source artificial intelligence language model trained on Latin American culture and developed primarily by the National Center of Artificial Intelligence of Chile (CENIA), is launched.[3]
- 19 February – A truck carrying liquid gas explodes after crashing into a traffic barrier in Renca, Santiago Province, killing four people.[4]
- 20 February – The United States imposes sanctions on transport minister Juan Carlos Muñoz and two other unidentified Chilean officials on charges of carrying out "activities that compromised critical telecommunications infrastructure and eroded regional security".[5]
- 22–27 February – 65th Viña del Mar International Song Festival[6]
March
- 11 March – José Antonio Kast is inaugurated as president of Chile for the 2026-2030 term.[7]
- 12 March – Chilean architect Smiljan Radic receives the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize, recognizing his contributions to contemporary architecture.[8]
Holidays
Source:[9]
- 1 January – New Year's Day
- 3 April – Good Friday
- 4 April – Easter Saturday
- 1 May – Labour Day
- 21 May – Navy Day
- 21 June – National Day of Aboriginal Peoples
- 29 June – Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
- 16 July – Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- 15 August – Assumption Day
- 18 September – Independence Day
- 19 September – Army Day
- 12 October – Day of the Race
- 31 October – Reformation Day
- 1 November – All Saints' Day
- 8 December – Immaculate Conception
- 25 December – Christmas Day
Deaths
- 8 January – Álvaro Peña-Rojas, 82, singer[10]
- 9 January – Andrés Caniulef, 48, journalist[11]
