Chile gets youngest-ever president in ex-student protest leader Gabriel Boric
- Gabriel Boric was only 4-years-old when democracy returned to the South American nation following a 17-year military dictatorship
- He has vowed that his young, inclusive government will attack poverty and inequality ‘to make life better’ in the country
Left-leaning former student leader Gabriel Boric has vowed to improve the lives of all Chileans and attack deep inequality that has sparked massive protests after being inaugurated as the youngest president in the country’s history.
At 36, Boric was only 4-years-old when democracy returned to the South American nation following a 17-year military dictatorship that both bloodied and set the groundwork for modern Chile.
Boric has vowed that his young, inclusive government will attack poverty and inequality that he said are the unacceptable underbelly of a free market model imposed decades ago by General Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.
“We come to give ourselves body and soul to making life better in our country,” he said in a speech from a balcony of the government building on Friday, calling for unity to make Chile “a dignified and just country.”
“The road will undoubtedly be long and difficult,” he said.
His four-year term begins at a moment when a constituent assembly is drawing up a new constitution for the country to replace one adopted under Pinochet.
The Socialist Party leader of the Senate, Älvaro Elizalde, draped the presidential sash over Boric’s shoulders during the ceremony in the legislative chambers in the port city of Valparaiso. Soon afterward, Boric swore in the leader of what he has called a “feminist” cabinet – which includes 14 women and 10 men.