![Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric](https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/chilean-president-elect-gabriel-boric.jpg?id=32138263&width=1200&height=400&quality=90&coordinates=0%2C125%2C0%2C875)
Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric arrives for a visit to the president of the Constituent Assembly, Elisa Loncon, on December 21, 2021 in Santiago, Chile. (Photo: Jonnathan Oyarzun/Getty Images)
Biden Congratulates Leftist Chilean President-Elect Gabriel Boric
The two leaders reportedly discussed the need for a "green and equitable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic."
In a departure from previous administrations' responses to left-wing victories in Latin America, President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric, who beat his right-wing opponent earlier this week after running on a social-democratic platform.
Biden called the 35-year-old president-elect, who will be sworn in as the country's youngest leader in March, to say his victory has set a "powerful example to the region and the world," according to a White House statement.
The two leaders reportedly discussed the need for a "green and equitable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic" and plans to "address the existential threat posed by climate change."
The call came as a convention is set to assemble in Chile with plans to rewrite the country's constitution with the climate crisis in mind--deciding how the nation's lithium mining industry should be regulated to protect the environment, how the government will confront the rights of nature, and other issues.
Before his decisive victory over Jose Antonio Kast--a supporter of deceased, U.S.-backed military dictator Augusto Pinochet--Boric rose to fame as a leader of a student movement demanding a nationalized higher education system.
He's promised to raise taxes on wealthy Chileans in order to strengthen the country's social programs, pledging to be a president "of all Chileans" and bring more economic equality to a country where the richest 1% of residents hold more than a quarter of all wealth.
The president-elect's plans for the country aim to strengthen Chile's highly privatized welfare state whose underdevelopment was driven by U.S.-trained "free market" economists.
Boric tweeted that he spoke with Biden about "strengthening democracy."
Biden's friendly approach to the left-wing leader comes after the president was condemned by progressives in the U.S. and abroad for inviting Juan Guaido, the leader of a failed U.S.-backed coup in Venezuela in 2019, to a so-called "Summit for Democracy" earlier this month.
But the White House this year has also acknowledged left-wing victories elsewhere in Latin America. Vice President Kamala Harris called Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro earlier this month to congratulate the democratic socialist on her victory, 12 years after the U.S. backed a coup which deposed her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya.
U.S. Secretary of Education Manuel Cardona also attended the inauguration of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, a socialist, in July.
No one is coming to save us. Join with us.
The world is a pretty dark place right now. Economic inequality off the charts. The climate emergency. Supreme Court corruption in the U.S. and corporate capture worldwide. Democracy in many nations coming apart at the seams. Fascism threatens. It’s enough to make you wish for some powerful being to come along and save us. But the truth is this: no heroes are coming to save us. The only path to real and progressive change is when well-informed, well-intentioned people—fed up with being kicked around by the rich, the powerful, and the wicked—get organized and fight for the better world we all deserve. That’s why we created Common Dreams. We cover the issues that corporate media never will and lift up voices others would rather keep silent. But this people-powered media model can only survive with the support of readers like you. Can you join with us and donate right now to Common Dreams’ Mid-Year Campaign? |
In a departure from previous administrations' responses to left-wing victories in Latin America, President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric, who beat his right-wing opponent earlier this week after running on a social-democratic platform.
Biden called the 35-year-old president-elect, who will be sworn in as the country's youngest leader in March, to say his victory has set a "powerful example to the region and the world," according to a White House statement.
The two leaders reportedly discussed the need for a "green and equitable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic" and plans to "address the existential threat posed by climate change."
The call came as a convention is set to assemble in Chile with plans to rewrite the country's constitution with the climate crisis in mind--deciding how the nation's lithium mining industry should be regulated to protect the environment, how the government will confront the rights of nature, and other issues.
Before his decisive victory over Jose Antonio Kast--a supporter of deceased, U.S.-backed military dictator Augusto Pinochet--Boric rose to fame as a leader of a student movement demanding a nationalized higher education system.
He's promised to raise taxes on wealthy Chileans in order to strengthen the country's social programs, pledging to be a president "of all Chileans" and bring more economic equality to a country where the richest 1% of residents hold more than a quarter of all wealth.
The president-elect's plans for the country aim to strengthen Chile's highly privatized welfare state whose underdevelopment was driven by U.S.-trained "free market" economists.
Boric tweeted that he spoke with Biden about "strengthening democracy."
Biden's friendly approach to the left-wing leader comes after the president was condemned by progressives in the U.S. and abroad for inviting Juan Guaido, the leader of a failed U.S.-backed coup in Venezuela in 2019, to a so-called "Summit for Democracy" earlier this month.
But the White House this year has also acknowledged left-wing victories elsewhere in Latin America. Vice President Kamala Harris called Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro earlier this month to congratulate the democratic socialist on her victory, 12 years after the U.S. backed a coup which deposed her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya.
U.S. Secretary of Education Manuel Cardona also attended the inauguration of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, a socialist, in July.
In a departure from previous administrations' responses to left-wing victories in Latin America, President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric, who beat his right-wing opponent earlier this week after running on a social-democratic platform.
Biden called the 35-year-old president-elect, who will be sworn in as the country's youngest leader in March, to say his victory has set a "powerful example to the region and the world," according to a White House statement.
The two leaders reportedly discussed the need for a "green and equitable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic" and plans to "address the existential threat posed by climate change."
The call came as a convention is set to assemble in Chile with plans to rewrite the country's constitution with the climate crisis in mind--deciding how the nation's lithium mining industry should be regulated to protect the environment, how the government will confront the rights of nature, and other issues.
Before his decisive victory over Jose Antonio Kast--a supporter of deceased, U.S.-backed military dictator Augusto Pinochet--Boric rose to fame as a leader of a student movement demanding a nationalized higher education system.
He's promised to raise taxes on wealthy Chileans in order to strengthen the country's social programs, pledging to be a president "of all Chileans" and bring more economic equality to a country where the richest 1% of residents hold more than a quarter of all wealth.
The president-elect's plans for the country aim to strengthen Chile's highly privatized welfare state whose underdevelopment was driven by U.S.-trained "free market" economists.
Boric tweeted that he spoke with Biden about "strengthening democracy."
Biden's friendly approach to the left-wing leader comes after the president was condemned by progressives in the U.S. and abroad for inviting Juan Guaido, the leader of a failed U.S.-backed coup in Venezuela in 2019, to a so-called "Summit for Democracy" earlier this month.
But the White House this year has also acknowledged left-wing victories elsewhere in Latin America. Vice President Kamala Harris called Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro earlier this month to congratulate the democratic socialist on her victory, 12 years after the U.S. backed a coup which deposed her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya.
U.S. Secretary of Education Manuel Cardona also attended the inauguration of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, a socialist, in July.