March 28, 2024

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Leftist Gabriel Borek wins presidential election by a large margin

Leftist Gabriel Borek wins presidential election by a large margin

Chile’s president-elect, Gabriel Borek, began his electoral victory speech in the indigenous Mapuche language on Sunday in front of thousands of supporters, mostly young people, stressing that a new generation is demanding equal rights for all.

Borek, a 35-year-old leftist, representative of the Dignity Consent Agreement, formed by the Communist Party and the left Amplio Front, won the second round of the presidential election over the far-right candidate Jose Antonio Caste with 56% of the vote. .

In the first round last month, Caste, known for his defense of Chile’s military dictatorship, finished two points ahead of Borek, but failed to convince voters that his rival’s leftist agenda would transform America’s more stable and advanced economy.

In his speech, Borek reiterated promises to fight climate change by blocking a mining project and ending the private pension system, a legacy of the neoliberal economic model imposed by dictator Augusto Pinochet.

However, when he takes office on March 11, the new president will receive a divided parliament and an economy struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

In a sign of democratic civility, Caste immediately conceded defeat in a Twitter message and then went to Borek’s campaign headquarters to meet his opponent.

The outgoing president, Sebastian Pinera, addressed the country after learning of the results. “Today, we Chileans and Chileans have elected a new president who will lead the nation on March 11th. I want to begin by congratulating Gabriel Borek on his victory and wishing him all the best.”

Borek’s advantage was higher than expected in the polarized elections, which followed the social protests that led to the drafting of a new constitution. Borek, unlike Caste, supported the work of the Constitutional Convention.

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During their campaign, both advocated opposing ideas on how to move forward on key issues, in the South American country returning to democracy in 1990.