Gabriel Boric became the youngest Chilean president-elect on Sunday 19th of December 2021, after gaining a 56% majority in the elections over his rival Jose Antonio Kast.
There was celebration on the streets of major cities in Chile following Gabriel Boric’s victory over Jose Antonio Kast, who is considered to be highly conservative in his policies. Kast had reportedly conceded prior to the release of the final results. Chileans reported to number in their thousands, flooded the streets in several cities including the capital after Kast conceded, reportedly waving LGBTQ flags and showing other displays of validation of the new president elect, Gabriel Boric.
The country is reported to have one of the most distinct social class gaps in the world. Gabriel Boric promised in his campaign to establish a social welfare state through taxation and other means. Due to his policies he has been referred to by some as a communist, while others consider him a liberator.
“I’m thrilled, I am crying with joy. We dealt a blow to fascism!” said pharmacy worker Jennie Enriquez.
Kast is a known advocate for Augusto Pinochet, who is regarded by many as being a brutal dictator in his time, and also credited for both the wealth of the country as well as the considerable gap in Chile’s social class.
Kast has publicly opposed a number of LGBTQ causes, including gay and lesbian marriages, abortions and contraception.
Kast would later congratulate Boric on his victory. He attested that Chile would always come first, and on that note Boric being the president-elect deserved all the cooperation and respect that comes with the office.
Chile’s election body stated that the number of active participants exceeded 55 percent, which is a record high since 2012, when voting was declared to be of voluntary participation. About 8.3 million electorates participated in the elections out of approximately 15 million eligible voters, and Gabriel Boric surpassed his opponent by about 1 million votes.
Claudia Heiss, the Head of Political Science of the Institute of Public Affairs, Universidad de Chile said that both parties had helped in mobilizing the most difficult segment, the segment of young people. She stated that Kast had contributed to this through his anti-rights, anti-women and anti-gay speech, which in turn caused the youth to come out in their numbers.
Gabriel Borich on Sunday recapitulated plans to establish “a more humane Chile, a more dignified Chile, a more egalitarian Chile.”
Several country presidents and leaders, particularly those in Latin American, articulated congratulatory messages to the new president-elect of Chile, the Colombian president, Ivan Duque, Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso, to name a few. The president elect, Gabriel Boric will be sworn into office in March, 2022.