The leftist triumphed over his far-right rival with promises of a fairer deal for ordinary people. Can he achieve it?
The relief is immense. But so is the challenge that lies ahead. Gabriel Boric’s sweeping victory over his far-right opponent José Antonio Kast in Chile’s presidential election on Sunday was welcome to all those alarmed at the prospect of a leader who admires the country’s late dictator Augusto Pinochet and embraces Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro. Polls had predicted that Mr Boric would win modestly in the second round; instead, with a 12 percentage point lead on a high turnout – giving him more votes than any president in history – he has a resounding mandate. Now Chile’s youngest ever president-elect, just 35, must attempt to push through his ambitious pledges of sweeping reform – including abolishing the private pension system, raising taxes, increasing the minimum wage and forgiving student debt – in a polarised nation.
Undoubtedly, many were driven to support him by the prospect of a Kast presidency, with potential echoes of both Pinochet and Trump. Mr Kast, the son of a Nazi, railed against migrants and the “gay lobby” and said he would ban abortion (already extremely tightly restricted). But the deeper roots of Mr Boric’s success lie in the explosion of protest in 2019 over the cost of living, inadequate welfare and public services in one of the world’s most unequal countries; 1% of the population owns 25% of its wealth, according to the UN. While foreign investors have long hailed Chile as a success story, more than half of households are classed as economically vulnerable. Many have had enough of free-market dogma. Though detractors warn that Mr Boric is inexperienced, others are hungry for a new start.
