SANTIAGO — The clock hit 7 pm when residents on Serrano street in downtown Santiago heard shouts and celebrations from inside Hotel Fundador, where Gabriel Boric, now Chile’s president-elect, was holed up with his top campaign officials.
By that time, they could already hear chants of “Se siente, se siente, Boric presidente” (“We feel it, we feel it, Boric is president”) from his supporters outside. The 35-year-old congressman from the southern province of Magallanes knew that he had won the country’s runoff election. With half of the ballots counted, Mr. Boric opened a 10-point lead over his far-right opponent, José Antonio Kast.
Soon after, Mr. Kast called his rival to concede. “I’ve just spoken with Gabriel Boric to congratulate him on his great triumph,” Mr. Kast wrote on Twitter. “He is now Chile’s president-elect and deserves our respect and constructive collaboration. Chile comes first.”
The former student leader-turned-lawmaker will now lead a nation that, despite posting some of Latin America’s best macroeconomic indicators, is roiled by economic anxieties, voter discontent, deeply-rooted inequality, and a schismatic society. Mr. Boric won voters over with promises to reform Chile’s healthcare and pension systems, tax the rich, and steer the country into a greener economy.
Mr. Boric has pledged to bring forward the closure of coal-fired thermoelectric plants from 2040 to 2025; to protect biological corridors of flora and fauna; to promote green jobs and build infrastructure for adaptation and resilience in the face of the climate crisis; to relocate...
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