A breath of fresh air in Latin America. This Friday, Gabriel Boric, 36, took office as President of Chile. This millennial with feminist, ecological and social rhetoric based on moderation and dialogue, offers a new deal on the left.
Chile’s youngest presidents
The youngest president to wear the presidential sash, Gabriel Boric was born some 3,000 km south of Santiago, in Punta Arenas, one of the southernmost cities in the world considered the gateway to Antarctica, on the shores of the icy waters of the Strait of Magellan. Student leader, member of parliament at 27, president-elect at 35, he refined on the benches of the faculty of law the desire of the generation that accompanies him in government to establish in Chile “something which, in Europe, seems quite obvious: to guarantee a welfare state so that everyone has the same rights”.
Break with ultra-liberalism
Gabriel Boric articulated his thinking in opposition to the ultra-liberal economic model established under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), and perpetuated by successive leaders of both right and left, which put the middle class in debt to be able to pay the costs of education, health and private pension. “If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism in Latin America, it will also be its tomb”, he had again launched at the head of a left-wing coalition united behind his candidacy recorded by a primary.
politics in the blood
In a relationship with a political scientist, the new First Lady Irina Karamanos, childless, the left-wing president has chosen to reside in a crucible of social diversity in Santiago, in Yungay, far from the wealthy municipalities where most of his predecessors lived. “El Boris”, as he is popularly known, grew up alongside his two younger brothers in a family sympathetic to the Socialist and Christian Democratic parties, and studied at the British School in his city before joining the University of Santiago. where he did not complete his degree course. His father, Luis Boric, a 75-year-old former chemical engineer, says his son began to forge his political ideals from an early age with the messages “let’s be realistic, demand the impossible” or “reason is strength”. painted by his hand on the walls of his room.
Determine to mark the differences with its predecessors
Since his election, he has endeavored to mark his difference with the styles of past presidents, showing himself to be close to the population, taking the time to greet the most humble by deviating from protocol. He formed a majority female government, a historic fact, with 14 of the 24 ministerial portfolios in the hands of women, and said he wanted to lead a “green government”. Although he claims to have “a lot to learn”, he says he wants to draw inspiration from the “experience” of former presidents whom he criticized when he was a student leader and deputy, in particular the socialists Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006 ) and Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010, 2014-2018).