Gabriel Boric

Gabriel Boric
Born	Gabriel Borić Font 11 2, 1986
Birthplace	Punta Arenas, Magallanes Region, Chile
Nationality	Chilean
Occupation	Politician
Known for	37th President of Chile; student protest leader during 2011 Chilean protests
Education	University of Chile (no degree)
Children	1

Gabriel Borić Font (born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician serving as the 37th President of Chile since 11 March 2022. A figure of the Chilean left whose political career was forged in the country's student movement, Boric first gained national attention as president of the University of Chile Student Federation (FECh) during the mass student protests of 2011, which demanded sweeping reforms to Chile's education system. He subsequently served two terms as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2014 to 2022 and played a key role in brokering the political agreement that followed the 2019 Chilean civil unrest, leading to a national referendum on drafting a new constitution. In December 2021, Boric won the presidential election by defeating José Antonio Kast in the second round with 55.9% of the vote. Upon his inauguration, he became the youngest president in Chilean history. Boric co-founded the Social Convergence party in 2018, which later became part of the Broad Front coalition; as of 2024, he is a member of the Broad Front. His presidency has been marked by efforts to address social inequality, reform Chile's pension and healthcare systems, and navigate the complex political landscape that emerged after the rejection of a proposed new constitution in 2022.

Early Life

Gabriel Borić Font was born on 11 February 1986 in Punta Arenas, the capital of Chile's Magallanes Region, the southernmost region of the country. His family background reflects the diverse immigration history of southern Chile. His surname, Borić, is of Croatian origin; his grand-uncle, Vladimiro Boric Crnosija, was a Roman Catholic bishop. The Font side of his family is of Catalan descent. Boric grew up in Punta Arenas in what has been described as a comfortable, middle-class upbringing.

During his youth in Punta Arenas, Boric developed interests in literature and poetry, and was influenced by anarcho-syndicalist thought, which would later inform his early political outlook. The cultural and geographic remoteness of Magallanes from Santiago, Chile's political center, shaped his perspective on regional inequality and the centralization of power in the capital — themes that would recur throughout his political career.

Boric moved to Santiago to pursue higher education, a transition that placed him at the heart of Chile's increasingly active student movement in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Education

Boric enrolled in the University of Chile's law program in Santiago. While at the university, he became deeply involved in student politics rather than completing his degree. He did not graduate with a law degree. His time at the University of Chile was defined less by academic study than by his rapid ascent through the ranks of student government, culminating in his election as president of the University of Chile Student Federation (FECh) in December 2011.

The FECh presidency placed Boric at the forefront of one of Chile's largest social movements in decades, and his decision to prioritize activism over completing his studies became a notable biographical detail — one that distinguished him from many of his predecessors in Chilean politics, who typically held professional degrees.

Career

Student Leadership and the 2011 Protests

The 2011 Chilean student protests represented a watershed moment in the country's post-dictatorship politics. Hundreds of thousands of students across Chile took to the streets demanding free, quality public education and an end to the profit-driven model that had characterized Chilean higher education since the reforms enacted under the military government of Augusto Pinochet. The movement drew widespread public support and posed a significant challenge to the government of President Sebastián Piñera.

Boric was elected president of the FECh on 19 December 2011, succeeding Camila Vallejo, who had become one of the most visible faces of the protests. Under Boric's leadership, the FECh continued to articulate demands for structural reform of Chile's education system, including five fundamental demands for a new educational framework that emphasized free access, quality, and democratic governance of universities. His tenure as FECh president lasted until 28 November 2012, when he was succeeded by Andrés Fielbaum.

Boric's role in the student movement established his national profile and positioned him as part of a generation of young Chilean leaders — including Vallejo, Giorgio Jackson, and others — who would transition from student activism into formal politics in the years that followed.

Entry into Congress (2013–2017)

In 2013, Boric ran for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies as an independent candidate representing the 60th district, which encompassed the Magallanes Region, his home territory. He won the election, succeeding Miodrag Marinović, and took office on 11 March 2014. At 27 years old, he was among the youngest members of the chamber.

His election was notable for several reasons. As an independent who had emerged directly from the student movement rather than from any established political party, Boric represented a new type of Chilean politician. His victory in Magallanes demonstrated that the energy of the 2011 protests could be translated into electoral success, even in regions far from Santiago.

During his first term, Boric focused on issues related to education reform, regional development, and social rights. He positioned himself on the left of the political spectrum but maintained a degree of independence from Chile's traditional left-wing parties, including the Communist Party of Chile and the Socialist Party of Chile.

The Broad Front and Re-election (2017–2022)

Boric was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2017, this time representing District 28 under the banner of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio), a coalition of left-wing and progressive parties that had emerged as a new force in Chilean politics. The Broad Front sought to offer an alternative to both the traditional center-left Nueva Mayoría coalition and the right-wing Chile Vamos alliance.

In 2018, Boric co-founded the Social Convergence (Convergencia Social) party, which became a constituent member of the Broad Front coalition. The party positioned itself as a democratic socialist organization, drawing on the traditions of the Chilean left while rejecting the authoritarian models associated with some Latin American leftist governments.

Boric distinguished himself from some of his allies on the Chilean left by publicly calling for condemnation of human rights situations in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In August 2018, he urged the left to reject double standards regarding authoritarianism, stating that leftists could not criticize right-wing abuses while remaining silent about repression carried out by nominally left-wing governments. In November 2021, he publicly called on the Communist Party of Chile, his coalition partners, to retract a statement expressing support for Daniel Ortega following elections in Nicaragua that were widely criticized as undemocratic.

The 2019 Unrest and the Constitutional Agreement

In October 2019, Chile was shaken by a wave of mass protests and civil unrest — the largest the country had experienced in decades. Triggered initially by a rise in Santiago metro fares, the protests quickly expanded to encompass deep-seated grievances about inequality, the cost of living, pensions, healthcare, and the legacy of the Pinochet-era constitution.

Boric played a central role in the political response to the crisis. On 15 November 2019, he was among the legislators who brokered the "Agreement for Social Peace and a New Constitution" (Acuerdo por la Paz Social y la Nueva Constitución), a cross-party agreement that established a pathway toward drafting a new constitution through a democratic process. The agreement led to the October 2020 national referendum, in which Chilean voters overwhelmingly approved the drafting of a new constitution.

Boric's participation in the November 2019 agreement was controversial within parts of the left, with some activists and politicians accusing him of legitimizing the existing political establishment and undermining the more radical demands of the protest movement. Nevertheless, the agreement is generally regarded as having de-escalated the crisis and established a democratic channel for addressing the protesters' demands.

2021 Presidential Campaign and Election

Boric entered the 2021 presidential race as the candidate of the Apruebo Dignidad (Approve Dignity) coalition, which brought together the Broad Front and the Communist Party of Chile. He won the coalition's primary election and advanced to face a crowded field in the first round of voting.

The first round, held on 21 November 2021, saw Boric finish in second place behind José Antonio Kast, a right-wing candidate who ran on a platform of law and order, conservative social values, and free-market economics. The result set up a polarized second-round contest between the two candidates, which was widely characterized as a choice between Chile's left and right flanks.

Before the runoff, Boric consulted with former presidents Michelle Bachelet and Ricardo Lagos, signaling his intention to build a broad coalition of support beyond his core left-wing base.

The second round took place on 19 December 2021. Boric won decisively with approximately 55.9% of the vote, defeating Kast, who conceded the result. Reuters noted that Boric's trajectory from student protest leader to president-elect encapsulated the broader rise of Chile's new left.

Presidency (2022–present)

Boric was inaugurated as President of Chile on 11 March 2022, succeeding Sebastián Piñera. At 36 years of age, he became the youngest president in Chilean history.

His presidency has been shaped by several major policy challenges. The constitutional process that Boric had helped initiate faced a setback in September 2022 when Chilean voters rejected the proposed new constitution drafted by a Constitutional Convention by a wide margin. The rejection required Boric and his government to recalibrate their political strategy and engage in a new round of negotiations over constitutional reform.

Foreign Policy

Boric's foreign policy positions have attracted international attention. He has sought to position Chile as an advocate for human rights in the region, consistent with his earlier criticisms of authoritarian governments across the political spectrum. His government indicated interest in re-establishing diplomatic relations with Bolivia, which had been severed, though Boric acknowledged that progress would depend on the willingness of the other party.

Relations with Brazil under President Jair Bolsonaro were tense, with several public exchanges between the two leaders reflecting their divergent political orientations.

On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Boric has taken positions critical of Israel. As a member of Congress, he participated in a boycott of Israel-related activities in the Chilean legislature. His stance has been described as anti-Zionist, and he has been reported to have described Israel in strongly critical terms. These positions generated debate within Chile's Jewish and Palestinian communities, both of which have significant populations in the country.

Personal Life

Boric's personal life has received public attention given his relatively young age and his status as an unmarried president. He was in a relationship with Irina Karamanos from 2019 to 2023. Karamanos briefly assumed an informal role similar to that of first lady during the early period of Boric's presidency before stepping back from public duties. As of 2024, Boric has been in a relationship with Paula Carrasco. He has one child.

Boric has been open about his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a disclosure that drew attention in Chilean media and contributed to broader public discussions about mental health.

His personal interests include literature and poetry, interests that date back to his youth in Punta Arenas. He has cited a range of literary and intellectual influences, consistent with the eclectic political formation that took him from anarcho-syndicalist readings in his youth to democratic socialism in his political maturity.

Recognition

Boric's election as president at the age of 35 made him the youngest person to hold that office in Chilean history, a fact widely noted in international coverage of the 2021 election. His ascent from student leader to head of state within approximately a decade was described by Reuters as emblematic of the broader transformation of Chilean left-wing politics in the post-Pinochet era.

The BBC profiled Boric as a "millennial president-elect" following his victory, noting that his political career had been defined by a series of social movements rather than by the traditional party structures that had long dominated Chilean politics.

His role in negotiating the November 2019 constitutional agreement was recognized as a significant contribution to resolving one of the most serious political crises in Chile's recent history, even as it drew criticism from segments of the left who viewed the agreement as a concession to the political establishment.

Legacy

As a sitting president, Boric's legacy remains in formation. However, several aspects of his career have already been identified as historically significant.

His trajectory from student activist to president represents a generational shift in Chilean politics. The generation that led the 2011 student protests — including Boric, Camila Vallejo, Giorgio Jackson, and others — moved from the streets to the halls of Congress and ultimately to the executive branch within a relatively short period. This transition has been interpreted as evidence of the Chilean political system's capacity to absorb and institutionalize social movements, as well as a reflection of deep public dissatisfaction with the post-dictatorship political consensus.

Boric's insistence on criticizing authoritarian governments regardless of their ideological orientation — including left-wing governments in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua — represented a departure from the stance of parts of the Latin American left. This position has been cited as an attempt to define a new democratic left in the region, one that is committed to human rights universally rather than selectively.

The constitutional process that Boric championed, from the 2019 agreement through the 2020 referendum and the subsequent drafting and rejection of a new constitution, represents one of the most significant democratic experiments in recent Latin American history. Although the first proposed constitution was rejected by voters, the process itself altered the terms of political debate in Chile and placed questions of social rights, indigenous recognition, and environmental protection at the center of national discourse.

Boric's presidency also holds significance as a test case for whether the new Latin American left can govern effectively within the constraints of democratic institutions and a globalized economy, while advancing a progressive social agenda.