This is Chile’s new president: a 35-year-old with tattoos and no tie

The far-right Jose Antonio Caste conceded defeat last night after Gabriel Borek, with 70 percent of the vote counted, was significantly ahead. He received more than 55 percent of the vote at the time, compared to 44.8 percent for Caste. The difference was much greater than expected.

Last month, no winner was named in the first round of the presidential election. The vote count was pretty close at the time.

Campaign on TikTok

Since the people toppled Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet 31 years ago, this South American country has always had leaders from the political center.

This was not the case for the main candidates during this election campaign. For example, Caste has spoken out strongly against gays and refugees, among others. With an impressive campaign campaign on TikTok, this far-right candidate has tried to woo young people, as evidenced by this video:

Borek is by far the youngest Chilean president ever. He has tattoos, he doesn’t wear any ties and therefore he is according to New York times Very different from Chile’s presidential candidates in the past.

fight inequality

He was the driving force behind the student demonstrations that took place ten years ago. Borek promised to pay more attention and money to support programs to combat social and economic inequality in the country.

In 2019, Chileans took to the streets in droves to protest inequality. Dozens were killed as a result. Last year, a referendum ensued, in which the people voted on a draft new constitution to replace the existing one drawn up under Pinochet.