In what was hailed as Chile’s battle between two extremes, Gabriel Boric came out on top. On 19 December, the 35-year-old left-wing former student activist made history by becoming the nation’s youngest president, following a second round of voting. In his victory, he comfortably defeated the ultra-conservative candidate José Antonio Kast, and heralded a new era for the country.
Apart from his age, Boric’s win marks another milestone for Chile: he is the first politician from outside the narrow free-market centre-left-to-centre-right mainstream to win power since the country emerged from the shackles of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship and (re)democratised in 1990.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
