At 35, he became the youngest President of the Republic in the history of Chile.
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It is a triumph for the left coalition. Gabriel Boric was officially elected President of the Republic of Chile on Sunday, December 19. The left-wing candidate won in the second round with 55.87% of the vote, against 44.13% in favor of his far-right opponent, José Antonio Kast, who won in the first round. Turnout topped 55%, a record high since compulsory voting ended in 2012. At 35, he becomes Chile’s youngest president.
The two finalists in the election proposed diametrically opposed societal projects in a duel unprecedented since the return to democracy in 1990. José Antonio Kast, who repeated during the campaign that he was the candidate of “order, justice and security”, congratulated his opponent: “He deserves all our respect, a lot of Chileans have trusted him”, he said after admitting defeat.
Hablar con acabo @gabrielboric y lo he felicitado por su gran triunfo. Desde hoy es el Presidente electo de Chile y merece todo nuestro respeto y colaboración constructiva. Chile siempre está primero ✌️ pic.twitter.com/AvpBKs0GFT
– José Antonio Kast Rist (@joseantoniokast) December 19, 2021
Gabriel Boric won in particular thanks to his welfare state project, a major change in the country considered to be the laboratory of liberalism in Latin America. He thus rallied around him the middle to upper middle class, mainly in Santiago. Aged 35, he intends to promote a major tax reform to involve the richest in his program of better access to health, education and the creation of a new retirement system, now entirely private.