2026 in Chile
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The following is a list of events in the year 2026 in Chile.
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 Radić Clarke receives the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize, recognizing his contributions to contemporary architecture.[8]
- 17 March – President Kast suspends 43 environmental regulations.[9]
Holidays
Source:[10]
- 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[11]
- 9 January – Andrés Caniulef, 48, journalist[12]
References
- ^ Astier, Henri (2026-01-18). "Chile declares 'state of catastrophe' as wildfires leave at least 18 dead". BBC. Retrieved 2026-01-19.
- ^ "Spain's Telefonica sells Chile unit in Latin America pullout". France 24. 11 February 2026.
- ^ "Chile launches open-source AI model designed for Latin America". AP News. 11 February 2026.
- ^ Delgado, Felipe (19 February 2026). "Explosión de camión en la RM deja varias personas quemadas y autos incendiados en plena carretera". Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- ^ "US ambassador defends travel bans on 3 Chilean officials as a 'sovereign decision'". AP News. 2026-02-23. Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ^ "Festival de Viña 2026: Confirman fecha del evento y de la Gala". mega.cl (in Spanish). 14 March 2025. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ "Hard-right Chile leader sworn in on promise of change". France 24. 11 March 2026. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
- ^ "Chile's Smiljan Radic Clarke wins Pritzker architecture prize". France 24. 2026-03-12. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
- ^ "Chile's President Kast tosses out dozens of environmental protections". Al Jazeera. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- ^ "Chile Public Holidays". Public Holidays Global. Archived from the original on 12 December 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
- ^ "Muere a los 82 años Álvaro Peña, leyenda del punk chileno y compañero de Joe Strummer en sus primeros años". La Tercera. January 9, 2026. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ "Muere el periodista Andrés Caniulef a los 48 años de edad". Chilevisión (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-01-10.