Gabriel Boric; Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, but it will also be its grave
Gabriel Boric: 35-Year-Old Student Leader Elected President of Chile
When Gabriel Boric announced that he would be the presidential candidate of the left alliance, he said with a very ambitious promise, “Chile was the cradle of neo-liberalism, but it will also be its grave. Do not be afraid that the youth will change this country.”
Former student leader Gabriel Boric has won a historic electoral victory to become Chile’s youngest ever president.
“Destroying the world is destroying ourselves,” Boric said in his victory speech.
Boric, 35, promised to make a radical change by turning a new page in the country, which has been shaken by mass demonstrations against income inequality and corruption for the last 10 years.
In the second round of the presidential elections, Boric, whose name was heard by the Chilean public only 10 years ago through street demonstrations, was elected to the post with 56 percent of the votes according to the official results.
Boric outscored his far-right opponent, Pinochet’s defender, Jose Antonio Kast, whose style and views are similar to that of former US President Donald Trump, by 12 points, beyond all pre-election predictions.
Radically criticizing the centre-right and left-wing parties that have dominated the country’s politics since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in the 90s, Boric promised radical reform in the free market economy, the foundations of which were laid during the dictatorship. He said that this economic order lies at the root of the social injustice and income imbalance that has reached the highest level in the country.
Social injustice, large gaps between the poor and the rich and corruption were protested again in 2019 with mass demonstrations, and in the referendum held in 2020, voters voted to change the Constitution made during the military dictatorship.
The wave created by these developments now seems to continue with the election of Boric. Boric, who will officially assume the presidency in March, will expire in 2026.
He made his name known with mass student demonstrations
Born on February 11, 1986, in the Punta Arenas region of southern Chile, Boric first made his name during mass student demonstrations advocating for equal-free access and improved quality in higher education from 2011 to 2013.
At that time he was still a student at the University of Chile Law School but did not complete his education. Instead, he decided to enter politics.
In 2013, he was elected to the Chilean Congress in the elections he entered as an independent candidate from his native Magallanes region. In the election that followed, he became a deputy again with an overwhelming majority of votes.
Bearded, tattooed and no tie, Boric was unlike any previous presidential candidate.
During his campaign, he candidly shared with his constituents that he was diagnosed as obsessive-compulsive, and said it would be beneficial for Chilean people to openly talk about mental health.
The most common criticism about him is that he is inexperienced. But he himself admits this and says he has a lot to learn.
Boric, who says he is a passionate reader of poetry and history, describes himself as a “moderate socialist” politically.
It is also seen that he cut his long hair during his student years and often wore jackets that covered the tattoos on his arms.
In his election campaign, he sought to make history the neo-liberal economic model created during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990, raising taxes for the “super-rich”, expanding social services, providing health insurance to all, tackling inequality and protecting the environment and a green environment. He promised to give high priority to measures to create economy and steps to protect and develop democracy.
How did he succeed?
It is thought that Boric’s success in the election played a role in his success in conveying his message outside of the capital, Santiago, which is considered his stronghold, to rural voters who generally do not support left and right radicalism in politics.
For example, the fact that Antofagasta, which is such a rural region in the north and came third in the first round of the election, outperformed Kast by 20 points in the second round, confirms this.
But the most fundamental factor is probably the huge income inequality in Chile, which was once known as the most stable and economically successful country in Latin America, and the distrust of the tried political parties due to years of incessant corruption scandals.
Currently, according to the United Nations, Chile is one of the countries with the largest income distribution gap in the world, and 1 percent of the population owns 25 percent of the country’s wealth.
In his victory speech, Boric said that he will take over this task with a “great sense of responsibility” and said, “We are a generation that has emerged with the demand that our rights be respected and that we should not be treated like a consumer item or a company. We know that there is still a justice for the rich and a justice for the poor, but we will no longer allow the poor to pay for the inequalities in Chile,” he added.
Boric said, “We have a huge task ahead of us. I know that the coming years will determine the fate of our country. That’s why I guarantee that I will be a head of state who cares about democracy, does not endanger it, listens more than speaks, tries to unite and deals with the daily needs of people.”
The environmental policies of the new Chilean President may also come up frequently. It has already promised to halt some controversial mining projects that it says will destroy the environment and the human communities that live there.
A new era, a brand new president
Despite the fact that two diametrically opposed candidates are competing in the elections and the electorate is polarized at both ends, Gabriel Boric said in his victory speech that he will be inclusive and those who do not vote for him will become president.
In fact, he knows that Congress is divided and his political opponents are not weak, but he has emphasized the search for dialogue on this issue as well.
As a result, most Chileans voted for a new term and a new kind of head of state.
Since the early 2010s, first mass student protests, then mass reactions to the rising prices in 2019 and a referendum held in the following year, in 2020, the Chilean voters’ dictatorship-era Constitution was abolished and a new, more democratic and participatory Constitution was made. The fact that he voted for it has always paved the way for such a change.
Still, one of Boric’s most important challenges will be how he can cover and get behind the 44 percent who did not vote for him.
