RESULTS – Gabriel Boric wins the Chilean presidential election with 55.87% of the vote against 44.13% for José Antonio Kast. At 35, he thus became one of the youngest leaders in the world.
Léa LUCAS with AFP –
Explosion of joy in the streets of Santiago, Chile, after the announcement of the victory of the candidate of the radical left, Gabriel Boric, over his far-right opponent, José Antonio Kast, this Sunday in the second round of the presidential election .
According to the almost final official results (99.96% of polling stations), Gabriel Boric – who at 35 becomes the youngest president of Chile and among the youngest leaders in the world – won with 55.87% votes against 44.13% to José Antonio Kast, an admirer of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, supported by the whole of the Chilean right.
More than a million votes separate the two contenders (4.6 against 3.6), while the participation has exceeded 55%, a historic threshold since the vote is no longer compulsory in 2012. A participation in increase therefore , since it was 47% in the first round, when José Antonio Kast came out on top (27.9% against 25.8%), repeating that he was the candidate of “order, justice and security”.
Boric promises “more social rights”
Ultimately, it was Gabriel Boric who won the day with his welfare state project, rallying the middle to upper middle class around him. It intends to promote a major tax reform to involve the richest in its program and offer better access to health, education and the creation of a new retirement system, currently private, to the Chilean population.
This Sunday he promised “more social rights (…) while remaining fiscally responsible” facing the thousands of Chileans gathered in Santiago to celebrate his victory, just after tweeting: “We are unity. We are hope. We are stronger when we are together.
Quickly, his opponent José Antonio Kast congratulated him on social networks: “I just spoke with Gabriel and congratulated him on his great success. As of today, he is the elected president of Chile and deserves all our respect and constructive collaboration. Chile always comes first. ”
Outgoing President Sebastian Piñera also congratulated the newly elected Head of State who will officially take office on March 11: “I congratulate Gabriel Boric on his triumph and wish his government the best of success. You will be the President of all Chileans and your mission will be to unite all our compatriots. We all feel love for Chile and I know he will do his best to serve the country. “
Many Latin American countries, in joy
Faced with the triumph of the left-wing coalition, many governments in Latin America – from Cuba to Argentina, including Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Peru – have expressed satisfaction and even relief.
Among them: the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – whom the polls give the winner of the presidential election in 2022 in a possible duel with the president of the extreme right Jair Bolsonaro – said himself “happy with the victory of more than one democratic and progressive candidate in our Latin America, for the construction of a better future for all”.
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A few months before the French presidential election, these results did not escape the far left candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “In Chile the far-right in rout”, he immediately rejoiced on Twitter. “Our leading candidate in the first round in front of the whole left wins by a large margin. Long live Boric, the new President of Chile!” Something to give him hope …
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