Chile’s new president will need to talk to the center, says expert

This Sunday (19), Chile elected as the youngest president in its history the deputy and former student leader Gabriel Boric, from the left.

He won the election with 55.87% of the valid votes and nearly one million more voters than his far-right opponent, José Antonio Kast.

For the professor of International Relations at Unifesp, Regiane Nitsch Bressan, after a polarized election, Boric will need to improve his speech to guarantee governability.

She explains that the Chilean parliament elected this year is averse to ideological extremes.

“To govern, he will have to make political arrangements and have a more moderate speech, which talks with the center-left and the center, in order to achieve governability”, said the professor, who also coordinates the research group Observatório de Regionalismo.

The teacher comments that Boric’s victory represents a Chilean shift that began two years ago, in the 2019 demonstrations.

“In 2019, the population took to the streets to ask for greater State intervention in the economy and, above all, for greater social policies for Education, Health and Safety”, he recalls.

“In 2021, we had the formation of a commission that is drafting a new Chilean constitution. Boric’s victory is the result of these demands”, adds the teacher.

Regarding what should change in relations between Brazil and Chile with this result, the professor emphasizes that recent Brazilian foreign policy has been working to move away from the Latin region.

“In 2022, we should have relations with Chile in a very mild and distant way. If there was a change of government in Brazil, then yes, we will be able – as Brazil, which was once a country with a great role in the region – to get closer to our neighbors again. And, of course, also from Chile”, he concluded.

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