The charismatic and bearded millennial leader was a left-wing sensation. He galvanized young voters, promising sweeping systemic overhaul — social justice, affordable housing, free public transportation and minority rights. He was elected with an enormous vote tally and appointed a record number of women to his cabinet.
The leader was not New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, but the young Chilean president, Gabriel Boric.
When he was elected four years ago, at 35, propelled by a wave of social unrest, many hailed him as the symbol of a new brand of progressive politics in Latin America that focused on economic redistribution while championing human rights and making a clear break with the region’s authoritarian left.
As a wave of leftist leaders swept elections across the region, Mr. Boric’s tattooed forearms made the cover of Time magazine — and his Nirvana T-shirt, poetry quotations and candid talk about his mental health signaled a generational renewal, the “new face of the left in Latin America,” according to El País.
Now, near the end of his mandate, much of that fervor has waned. Chile is preparing for the first round of national elections on Sunday, in which a right-wing candidate is the favorite to win an anticipated runoff and as the leftward shift across South America seems to be reversing.
Chilean presidents are allowed to run for second terms, but not consecutively. Another leftist, a Communist Party candidate, Jeannette Jara, is running for president, though polls show she is likely to be defeated in the runoff by the conservative candidate, José Antonio Kast. He has campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform and is a harsh critic of Mr. Boric.
