Gabriel Boric

Gabriel Boric Font (born 11 February 1986 in Punta Arenas) is a Chilean politician who took office as President of Chile on 11 March 2022, becoming one of the youngest heads of state in the world at age 36. He leads the Apruebo Dignidad coalition, which brings together his own Convergencia Social party (part of the broader Frente Amplio) and the Chilean Communist Party.

Boric first gained national visibility as a leader of the 2011–2012 student movement demanding free, public higher education while president of the University of Chile student federation (FECh). He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2013 representing the Magallanes region and re-elected in 2017. In the 2021 presidential race, he won the first round of the left-wing primary against Communist candidate Daniel Jadue, then defeated far-right candidate José Antonio Kast in the December 2021 runoff with roughly 56% of the vote.

His presidency has been defined by several challenges:

• Constitutional reform: A proposed new constitution drafted by an elected convention was rejected by Chilean voters in the September 2022 plebiscito de salida (about 62% against). A second drafting process, dominated by the right, produced a text that was also rejected in December 2023.
• Social agenda: Boric has pushed tax reform, pension reform, a 40-hour workweek law (enacted 2023), and increased mining royalties on lithium and copper.
• Foreign policy: He has criticized human rights abuses across the ideological spectrum, including in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, while maintaining a generally progressive international posture.

His government has faced declining approval amid concerns over crime, migration from Venezuela and Haiti, and the failure of the constitutional process — issues that have constrained the ambitious reform agenda on which he campaigned.