Photo: Elvis González / EFE
For: EFE
Monday, December 23
Leftist Gabriel Boric makes history, wins Chilean presidency at 35
The young left-wing deputy Gabriel Boric, standard-bearer of the Broad Front and the Communist Party, won the Presidency this Sunday Chile when obtaining the 55. 7% of the votes with the 92% of polled tables.
“I will be the president of Chile of all Chileans, I will not govern only between four walls,” said Boric during a televised phone call with the outgoing president, the conservative Sebastián Piñera.
His opponent, the far-right lawyer José Antonio Kast, obtained the 42. 27% of votes , one of the largest differences in a ballot in the recent history of Chile.
PARTIAL BULLETIN OF PRELIMINARY RESULTS
With a total of 44. 362 (96, 80%) of the counted tables, the preliminary results are as follows:
1- Gabriel Boric: 4. 448 . 861 (55, 81%)
2- José Antonio Kast 3. 522. 106 (42, 19%) # Elections 2021 CL pic.twitter.com/7BN9lekQwF
– Electoral Service (@ServelChile) December 19, 2021
The brand-new president-elect of Chile said this Sunday before a crowd of supporters in the center of Santiago that the country is “before a change in the historical cycle ”and that his next government“ cannot miss it. ”
In his first public speech after defeating the far-right José Antonio Kast, the former student leader assured that his commitment “is to take care of democracy every day” and thanked the other six candidates who competed in the elections.
“The future of Chile needs us all on the side of the people and I hope we have the maturity to count on their ideas and proposals to start my Government ”, he expressed.
Boric reiterated, as he did when casting his vote in the morning and in his conversation c with the outgoing president, Sebastián Piñera, who will be “the president of all Chileans”, both of those who voted for his project and those who chose another alternative or did not attend to vote.
He recognized that the times that come “will not are easy ” and that his Government will have to“ face the social, economic and health consequences of the worst pandemic ”, but that they will advance“ with short, but firm steps. ”
He made a flag for“ social cohesion ”for a“ true and sustainable development ”, for“ respect for human rights ”, women,“ dissidents and diversities ”, health care“ that does not discriminate between rich and poor ”,“ decent pensions ”, easy access to housing and basic services and the strengthening of public education .
He also had words for drug trafficking and violence, which he wants to fight, and the cam bioclimatic, which will also fight because “it is not an invention.”
“Of course, not everything can be done at the same time and we will have We must prioritize to make progress that allows us to improve ”, aware that with a Congress in which neither the left nor the right have clear majorities, progress will have to be made based on“ broad agreements ”.
I assure you receive the mandate “with humility” and that your government project can be synthesized in “advancing responsibly in the changes that Chile has been demanding, without leaving anyone behind.”
“This means growing economically; convert what some understand as consumer goods into social rights, guarantee a calmer and safer life, deepen the freedoms of all, and especially of all: in our Government women will not back down in the rights and freedoms they have achieved in the long run of history ”, he expressed.
Deputy of 35 year old and former student leader, Boric defines himself as an ecologist, feminist and regionalist and wants to expand the role of the State towards a welfare model similar to that of Europe.
He will be the most leftist president since the government of the overthrown Salvador Allende (1970-1973) Y the first that is not part of the two great blocks that shared power since the return to democracy in 1990.
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