Left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric won the second round of the presidential election in Chile on Sunday, a landslide victory over his far-right opponent José Antonio Kast, who officially admitted defeat.
The left coalition, of which the Communist Party is a member, is a triumph in this unprecedented duel since the return to democracy in 1990 between two candidates with diametrically opposed social projects.
According to the final official results, Mr Boric, who, at 35, was just old enough to run, won with nearly 56% of the vote against 44% for Mr Kast, an admirer of the dictatorship of ‘Augusto Pinochet supported by the whole of the Chilean right.
Turnout is approaching 55%, an all-time high since voting was no longer compulsory in 2012.
In the first round, it was 47%, when José Antonio Kast came in first (27.9% against 25.8%), seducing in the upscale neighborhoods of Santiago and among the working classes outside the capital. , and by repeating that he was the candidate of “order, justice and security”.
But it is with his welfare state project, a change of scale in the country considered as the laboratory of liberalism in Latin America, that Gabriel Boric wins by rallying around him the middle to upper middle class, essentially in Santiago.
Gabriel Boric intends to promote a major tax reform to involve the richest – including the 1% of Chileans holding 26.5% of wealth, according to a UN agency – in his program for better access to health, education and the creation of a new pension system, now entirely private.
José Antonio Kast congratulated Gabriel Boric: “He deserves all our respect, many Chileans have trusted him”, he declared after admitting his defeat on his official Twitter account.
“To the extent of our possibilities, with our legitimate differences, we want to be a contribution for our country, we must unite the Chileans […] regain faith in our extraordinary country, ”he added.
Happy
A concert of horns sounded in the streets of the capital immediately after Mr. Kast admitted his defeat, and a big party is about to last all night as the return of some form of Pinochetism was feared among the population. .
Outgoing President Sebastian Piñera, who had to face a major social movement at the end of 2019, congratulated in a video discussion the new elected head of state who will officially take office on March 11.
“I want you and the people to know that I will do my best to meet this formidable challenge and that our country is at its best when we are united,” Boric said, assuring he wants to be “the president of all Chileans. and Chileans ”.
Mr. Piñera replied to the President-elect that “history has taught us that when we divide into fratricidal wars, things always end badly. All Chile hopes […] that there will be a very good government for Chile and the Chileans ”.
In the streets, a jubilant crowd let their joy explode.
“I am happy because there are going to be a lot of changes that are going to help the people and the working class, the forgotten, who are the most important in the country,” said Luis Astorga, 58, a construction worker who descended on the town. the streets celebrate victory.
“It’s a struggle that has been going on for many years, from our parents and grandparents, and we continue to fight against whatever Kast means in Chile,” says Daniela, a 27-year-old waitress. “It is we, the young people, who have to get things done. I have faith in him, I believe in what he says ”.
“I cry with joy. We beat fascism, it was like a birth. I’m going to come home, I’m going to give my children a hug and have a beer, ”said Jennie Enriquez, 45, a pharmacy worker.
“The young people understood that things had to be changed and that a candidate like José Kast was very dangerous. Young people took to the streets and showed that there are demands that must be met, ”said Pedro Carballeda, 19, a law student.