Gabriel Boric, a former student activist, is elected Chile's youngest president

[peppertree]

Chileans on Sunday elected Gabriel Boric as their next president, entrusting the young leftist lawmaker with helping to shape the future of a nation that has been roiled by protests and is now drafting a new Constitution.

At 35, Mr. Boric will be the nation’s youngest leader and by far its most liberal since President Salvador Allende, who died by suicide during the 1973 military coup that ushered in a brutal 17-year dictatorship.

He will assume office at the final stage of a years-long initiative to draft a new Constitution - an effort that is likely to bring about profound legal and political changes on issues including gender equality, Indigenous rights and environmental protections.

Capitalizing on widespread discontent with the political factions that have traded power in recent decades, Mr. Boric attracted voters by pledging to reduce inequality and promising to raise taxes on the rich to fund a substantial expansion of the social safety net, more generous pensions and a greener economy.

At: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/19/world/americas/chile-president-election.html

[secondwind]

1. Sounds like a keeper.......

[peppertree]

2. Especially given his opponent Kast - the (proud) son of a Nazi officer

All the Best to him.

He'll need it: politics is a contact sport in Latin America - and if right-wingers can't beat you in the polls, they'll just harass you in court and smear your name to death.

I think it's where the GOP got the idea for their trench warfare tactics.

[regnaD kciN]

3. Not just "your name," either...

and if right-wingers can't beat you in the polls, they'll just harass you in court and smear your name to death

I'd go further and remind people of what happened the last time Chile had this progressive a leader. As Kissinger reportedly said to Nixon: "I fail to see why we should just sit by and watch a country turn communist due to the irresponsibility of their own voters." And there were certainly forces within Chile's military that were all too happy to oblige.

[peppertree]

4. True - although these days they prefer 'soft' coups

Less PR blowback, you know.

Lawfare (the use of trumped-up charges in corrupt courts against adversaries) has become the go-to 'soft coup' method by Latin America's RW against center-left administrations they can't otherwise beat.

And to considerable success: they used it to help elect the disastrous Mauricio Macri in Argentina - and to keep Brazil's Lula da Silva and Ecuador's Rafael Correa from running at all.

Others, such as Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, were removed by impeachment despite an abject lack of criminal charges at all - simply because they could. Bolivia's Evo Morales was ousted outright.

Trump's kind of politics.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Didn't believe Chile was free enough to bring an active progressive to its Presidency.

I was actually afraid to hear the election result.

Also, what satisfaction it was to hear a journalist pronounce Boric's name correctly. My own assumption was a mile off!

Thank you, peppertree, for the most welcome news.

[peppertree]

6. You're welcome, Judi. Here's hoping young Mr. Boric can navigate Chile's tricky politics

To say nothing of their business elite, which whom he'll have to be careful - as they could take the country hostage if they wanted to.

Unlike Argentina, whose economy is spread out among many medium-to-large businesses (besides the small ones), Chile's is largely controlled by a few mega-conglomerates - a few of them (like retail giant Cencosud - the one founded by a Nazi), the largest in their sector in all of South America.

His real challenge, though, will be to nationalize their scam private pension system - which leaves most contributors so little in their plans, 75% of them become dependent on a government subsidy when they retire (so much for "private" ).

Boric will therefore have to tread lightly - but I'm sure he knows that better than anyone.

Thanks again for reading and sharing - and Happy Holidays!