On 19 December 2021, the results of the Chilean General Election was declared and a young Gabriel Boric emerged victorious. The Chamber of Deputies (Chile’s Lok Sabha) saw a move away from the Right-wing Chile Podemos Más Coalition. More seats went to new parties and the left-wing coalition Apruedo Dignidad, though no party coalition secured a majority. The Chilean legislature still has a strong but declining presence from right-wing parties, but newer younger left-wing politicians are rising.
7. Gabriel Boric: The face of Chile’s new left
Making international news is the victory of Gabriel Boric Font in the Presidential Race. Boric will be the youngest President Chile has ever had at age 35. Boric was a leading figure in the Chilean Winter student protests. He played an important role in establishing the Chilean Constitutional referendum, overthrowing the infamous Pinochet Constitution.
Boric won as part of the Apruedo Dignidad (Approve Dignity), a coalition of environmentalist feminist libertarian socialist parties. The Apruedo Dignidad’s strength in the Chamber of Deputies is still second to the Podemos Más, but Boric’s victory stands as historic as it marks a revival of socialism in the electoral politics of Chile after it was brutally assassinated by Augusto Pinochet. The Presidential win came following the largest voter turnout in Chilean history.
