Thousands of Chileans took to the streets and malls of Santiago and many other cities in the territory this Sunday night. They celebrated with fervor – and with great relief – the victory of Gabriel Boric in the second round of the polls against the far-right José Antonio Kast. The euphoria is not surprising, since Boric, candidate of the alliance between the Broad Front and the Chilean Communist Party, has become the youngest president of Chile (He is 35 years old) and in the most voted in the history of the country’s democracy. All after living a meteoric rise.
Ten years ago, in 2011, the new face of the left in Latin America began to rise among the crowds as a benchmark for the student protests of 2011. His interest in politics and promoting social change in a country still burdened in many aspects for the memory of the dictatorship it came from before. Born in 1987 in Punta Arenas (Magallanes region, in the extreme south of the country) and of Croatian descent, his father, a member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), instilled in him the importance of acting, of getting involved, to change things .
He soon established the political and ideological convictions of those who believe they are sure not to be passing through the board, and his name began to be repeated as an increasingly strong echo in the student mobilizations that the country experienced in 2011 – practically at the same time as the 15M in Spain-. Were thousands of students who at that time walked the streets of Chile to protest, among other issues, for the educational system implemented; They denounced a model only suitable for minorities and the bankruptcy suffered by their families so that they could study in front of a State that barely had the capacity to intervene.
Among them, Boric’s voice found space and took center stage. He went on to direct the Federation of Students of the University of Chile (FECh). Very shortly after, in 2013, he began his parliamentary life as a deputy with an independent candidacy supported by the 60th district (corresponds to the Magallanes Region). The torrent of criticism was not long in coming. Already in the act of taking office, he was reproached for his informal clothing: long and wild hair, a shirt without a tie and a jacket. And his words, attesting to the change that was coming in Chile. It did not seem to matter to him, as the accusations and reproaches that would be reproduced later against him, more harsh and serious.
Boric faced the military during the state of emergency in Chile: “They carry weapons of war! Get out!”
His political activity did not take him away from the streets, nor from the wishes or fears of the left and Chilean society. Proof of this is that, during the state of exception announced by Piñeira in October 2019 in response to the social outbreak, the now president was seen accompanying the protesters, standing in front of the Armed Forces to denounce the violent nature of their actions to suppress the concentrations (“They carry weapons of war! Get out!”, He exclaimed indignantly against the military). It was around this time that Boric’s life took a turn.. Among the leftist formations his presidential candidacy began to be valued.
From the streets to victory
In fact, between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 he had the opportunity to establish himself as the new leader of the left with options to lead the Government, but he ended up discarding it, considering that he was lacking in experience. His doubts changed a few months later. He swept the primaries as a candidate of the Broad Front against the Chile Worthy of Daniel Jadue. With Approve Dignity (Social Convergence) began the race to confront an extreme right that, as had happened in neighboring countries, was beginning to gain prominence and power without restraints.
Boric, who recovered the memory of Allende in his campaign to lay out the foundations of social change in the country, and Kast, who saw an opportunity for a rise in the fracture of the population, although a long list of controversies already weighed on him between cases of corruption and accusations of LGTBIphobia, were presented to society as the two sides of a coin on which the future of Chile fully depended. In the first round of the elections, the extreme right of the Republican Party prevailed over Boric by a minimal margin of votes (27.91% compared to 25.83%).
The tables turned in the second round of voting, as Boric garnered overwhelming political and social support, partly succeeded by fear of a government with Kast at the helm. This Sunday, the polls decided that Boric will rise before Kast with more than 4.6 million votes compared to the 3.6 million voters of the extreme right (55.87% -44.13%). The avenues were thus reopened. After these results, the new president takes command of a country with three fundamental pillars: more State, more feminism and more environmentalism. And a very clear objective: “To build a new, more caring and fair Chile.”
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
