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Gabriel Boric wins Chile presidential primary as protest generation takes centre stage
Source: The Guardian
Gabriel Boric wins Chile presidential primary as protest generation takes centre stage
Former student leader becomes candidate for leftwing coalition and vows to fight Pinochet-era economics
John Bartlett in Santiago
Mon 19 Jul 2021 22.49 BST
A decade ago, Gabriel Boric was a long-haired 25-year old leading thousands of clamouring students through the streets of the Chilean capital with megaphone in hand, demanding free education for all.
Boric was part of a radical generation of student leaders who were catapulted into the spotlight in 2011 during an uprising against the disparities in Chile’s education system.
Those protests radicalized a generation and are now seen as a precursor to the wider outbreak of social unrest which exploded across the country in October 2019.
Now, after two terms in congress, Boric has stormed into Chile’s presidential race, winning more than 60% of the vote to become candidate for the country’s leftwing coalition in November’s election.
Boric took more than 1m votes in Sunday’s primary, scoring a decisive victory over the Communist party candidate Daniel Jadue, and vowed to lead the assault on Chile’s Pinochet-era economic model.
-snip-
Former student leader becomes candidate for leftwing coalition and vows to fight Pinochet-era economics
John Bartlett in Santiago
Mon 19 Jul 2021 22.49 BST
A decade ago, Gabriel Boric was a long-haired 25-year old leading thousands of clamouring students through the streets of the Chilean capital with megaphone in hand, demanding free education for all.
Boric was part of a radical generation of student leaders who were catapulted into the spotlight in 2011 during an uprising against the disparities in Chile’s education system.
Those protests radicalized a generation and are now seen as a precursor to the wider outbreak of social unrest which exploded across the country in October 2019.
Now, after two terms in congress, Boric has stormed into Chile’s presidential race, winning more than 60% of the vote to become candidate for the country’s leftwing coalition in November’s election.
Boric took more than 1m votes in Sunday’s primary, scoring a decisive victory over the Communist party candidate Daniel Jadue, and vowed to lead the assault on Chile’s Pinochet-era economic model.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/19/gabriel-boric-chile-president-election
