The streets of Santiago erupted in celebration Sunday after leftist millennial Gabriel Boric became Chile’s youngest-ever president-elect with an unexpectedly large victory over his far-right rival in a polarizing race.
Boric, 35, garnered nearly 56 per cent of the vote compared to 44 per cent for ultra-conservative Jose Antonio Kast, who conceded even before the final result was known.
Tens of thousands of Chileans took to the streets of the capital and other cities after Kast’s concession, honking car horns in approval, brandishing pro-Boric placards, waving the rainbow LGBTQ flag and shouting: “Viva Chile!”
Fireworks lit the skies for hours on end.
President Sebastian Pinera, who leaves office with a low approval rating, said Sunday the country was living in “an environment of excessive polarization, confrontation, disputes.”
Pinera urged his successor, before the result was known, to never forget that “he will be the president of all Chileans and not just those who support him.”
Boric will be inaugurated in March next year.