‘’Chile’s youngest President-Gabriel Boric, 35.
Chile’s presidential elections recently got concluded and now the country has a new President.
But there are more than 200 countries or territories in the world, how does a Chile’s presidential election have become the talk of the town.
Well, the answer is simple-Gabriel Boric, a leftist leader who won against the strong veteran right wing politician José Antonio Kast.
Official results gave Mr Boric 56% of the votes against Mr Kast’s 44%.
Mr Kast conceded defeat barely an hour-and-a-half after polls closed, and with around half of ballots counted.
In downtown Santiago, his supporters cheered, embraced and waved flags with Boric’s image, as well as rainbow flags of LGBT groups that have backed his socially inclusive policies as well as plans to overhaul Chile’s market-orientated economic model.
Outgoing President Sebastian Pinera – a conservative billionaire – held a video conference with Boric to offer his government’s full support during the three-month transition.
“I am going to be the president of all Chileans,” Boric said in the brief televised appearance with Pinera. “I am going to do my best to get on top of this tremendous challenge.”
Who is Gabriel Boric?
Gabriel Boric is a 35-year-old legislator who has become the President of the South American nation, Chile.
This makes him the youngest President of the nation ever. Interestingly, the average age of Chile is also just 35 years old, which makes it a relatively young nation.
Interestingly, Gabriel Boric is a self-made politician, having no ties with any kind of dynastic politician.
Gabriel Boric is a student activist whose ideas of liberty, freedom of speech, Pro-LGBTQ+, Right to abortion and his fight against inequality resonated with the voters of the Chilean people.
Timeline of Chile’s Gabriel Boric
Chilean President Boric rose to fame in his student years.
He led the Federation of students at the University of Chile in the capital city Santiago in 2011 at the age of 25. His demands of improved and cheaper education for all caught the eye of the public and he garnered a lot of support for his movement.
By 2014, still in his 20s, he had joined the national Congress as a lower-house legislator, representing Chile’s vast and sparsely populated southernmost region of Magallanes.
While campaigning for presidency this year, Gabriel Boric stood out from all the other politicians but not just because of his manifesto but also as he embraced his younger look.
Gabriel Boric did not shy away from embracing his tattoos and sporting a beard, which at times was scruffy.
At many events, he even gave up his suits to sport cooler looking jackets.
Chile’s problems
Inequality
While a lot has been spoken about the rough dude look of Chile’s new president, a lot of anger of the Chilean public has been sidelined by international medias.
The major reasons behind the victory of Boric is not his looks, but his commitment to getting rid of inequality.
While Chile is the richest South American nation with income per capita of 13,231 USD (which is almost 7 times of India’s 1,927 USD per capita), it has been marred by inequality.
Once the most stable economy in Latin America, Chile has one of the world’s largest income gaps, with 1% of the population owning 25% of the country’s wealth, according to the United Nations.
Mr Boric has promised to address this inequality by expanding social rights and reforming Chile’s pension and healthcare systems, as well as reducing the work week from 45 to 40 hours, and boosting green investment.
Environmental issues
Chilean economy relies heavily on its copper reserves as it is the supplier of 1/3rd of world’s copper requirements.
However, this also means that the issue of heavy mining always foreshadows environmental concerns.
However, with the victory of Boric, it is seen as a referendum against “mining over environment” ideology.
The president-elect also promised to block a controversial proposed mining project which he said would destroy communities and the national environment.