Gabriel Boric promises to “expand social rights” in Chile with “fiscal responsibility”

The leftist Gabriel Boric, elected this Sunday as the new president of Chile, promised to “expand social rights” but with “fiscal responsibility”, in his first speech after being elected, before hundreds of thousands of people.

“We are going to expand social rights and we will do so with fiscal responsibility. We will do it taking care of our macroeconomics, we will do it well ”, added the president-elect, who in his program promises a tax reform to collect an additional 5% of GDP that worries his detractors.

“We will do it well since that will allow us to improve pensions and health without later having to go backwards”added the deputy, who with 35 years will become the youngest president in the history of Chile as of March 11.

Boric, who began his political career in 2011 as a student leader and then as a deputy at the age of 27, will come to the presidency after winning a left-wing primary in May in which he competed with communist Daniel Jadue.

Under the I Approve Dignity coalition, which brings together the Broad Front and the Communist Party, it won 25.8% of the vote in the first round. Heading into the second round, he managed to group the entire center-left under his candidacy once he moderated his proposal, especially the economic one.

Initially its program, which seeks to ensure a universal health plan and end the private pension fund administrators (AFP), established a tax reform that would collect 8% of GDP, which it later lowered to 5% during its four years of government.

The young deputy also stressed that throughout his administration – which begins on March 11 – he will have a “balanced congress”, after the joint formation between the forces of the left and the right.

“That is a reality. Which means an obligation and an invitation to dialogue ”, he added.

“It will be difficult, but we are going to advance with short but firm steps”, He narrowed down before a crowd, which his command calculated – only in the central part – at about 100,000 people.

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