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CHILE: Gabriel Boric, student protest leader becomes president

4676 Dec. 21, 2021, 9:04 a.m.

Former student protest leader, Gabriel Boric wins a remarkable victory in the Sunday, second-round of the presidential election and becomes Chile’s youngest president.

The leftist promised to put an end to the neo-liberal economic model imposed by Augusto Pinochet.

“If Chile was the cradle of neo-liberalism, it will also be it’s grave”, he said.

 He also plans to unite the country, fight for “the privileges of the few” and tackle poverty and inequality.

“We are a generation that emerged in public life demanding our rights be respected as rights and not treated like consumer goods or a business”, Boric said.

“We know there continues to be justice for the rich, and justice for the poor, and we no longer will permit that the poor keep paying the price of Chile’s inequality”, he added.

“I know that the future of our country will be at stake next year. That is why I want to promise you that I will be a president who will take care of democracy and not jeopardise it, a president who listens more than he speaks, who seeks unity, who looks after people’s daily needs, and who fights hard against the privileges of the few and who works every day for Chilean families.”

While some people say the challenges of a transition economy will be too much for the president-elect, he conceded that “The times ahead will not be easy”, and that “only with social cohesion, refinding ourselves and sharing common ground will we be able to advance towards truly sustainable development, which reaches every Chilean.”

The 35-year-old won about 56% of the votes against 44% for his ultra-conservative opponent, Jose Antonio Last.

President-elect Gabriel Boric would be sworn in on 11 March 2022 to replace outgoing Sebastian Pinera.

CNews24

 

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