Chilean President Gabriel Boric He won a landslide victory in the December elections and took office in March amid a wave of optimism and approval for his cabinet with a majority of women, plans for social reform and a moderate economic agenda.
(Read here: Gabriel Boric: the balance of the first 100 days of the Chilean president)
But since then it’s been hardwith persistent problems in the south of the country, rising inflation linked in part to world food and fuel prices and several missteps by his ministers, a cocktail that has hit the 36-year-old progressive leader hard in the polls .
(See also: Chile: Boric creates a ministerial cabinet on behalf of his partner)
The former student leader now seeks to regain ground and promote a political agenda that includes a tax reform to finance more social spending and stricter environmental regulation that raises alarms in the powerful mining sector.
A poll released on Sunday showed that support for the president fell to 34%.the lowest level since he took office, along the same lines as support for the proposed new Constitution.
“It has been three months of great intensity, of great learning, taking charge of our own self-criticism and how to improve our teamwork,” said Camila Vallejo, minister of the General Secretariat of Government and spokesperson for the Boric administration.
(Also read: How much is it worth and what do you need to live in Chile?)
It has been three months of great intensity, of great learning, taking charge of our own self-criticism and how to improve our teamwork
“In fact, we had the first difficult moment in the first week,” he added, mentioning how the visit of Interior Minister Izkia Siches to the troubled region of La Araucanía was interrupted by bullets.
How Boric fare is key for Chile and a barometer for leftist governments in the region and his ability to win over voters angered by high gas and food prices, a cooling economy and the residual impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Chile, Boric marks a break with the politicians who preceded him in the presidential chair and continues to be a beacon of hope for his supporters, tired of inequality in one of the richest nations in the region where there were large social protests at the end of 2019.
During his campaign, Boric pledged to end the free-market-oriented economic model, although he moderated his speech by appointing former Central Bank president Mario Marcel as finance minister, a signal that calmed investors in the world’s largest copper producer. .
When the party’s over
But while its environmental agenda and focus on inclusion have earned it praise, analysts say most voters are more concerned with everyday matters.
“People also want to make ends meet, buy a car, be certain that their children will have a prosperous life,” said Cristóbal Bellolio, a political analyst.
The conflict with indigenous groups in the south, where arson attacks against properties, machinery and vehicles are frequently recorded, have also tested the more conciliatory position of Boric, whose sector harshly criticized the government of Sebastián Piñera for resorting to the military to address the conflict.
And although during the campaign he assured that his government would not resort to a state of emergency in the southern provinces, in the end it did.
“Once it’s your turn to exercise power, you realize that the carrot is not enough“, said Bellolio. “Once the ‘Boricmanía’ is over, that the ‘challa’ (confetti) of the party is swept away and we return to business as usual, it was logical that all these public order issues were going to be a headache for the goverment”.
Giorgio Jackson, Boric’s minister and confidant, told Reuters earlier this month that the government’s biggest victories in the first 100 days had been raising the minimum wage and that the next big leap would be tax reform, including royalty. to mining.
The young president will also face a key referendum in September on the new constitution, which is intended to replace the current text that catapulted former dictator Augusto Pinochet’s neoliberal economic policies.
Although this process began before Boric arrived at La Moneda and is separated from the Government, the president is betting on its success since it supports many of the same ideas that he is trying to promote on social rights and the environment, among other aspects.
Vallejo said that the Government is focused on promoting a fair and transparent plebiscite and promoting its agenda regardless of the result, although he added that the current Constitution limits the reforms that they want to promote.
“We are going to push with the same conviction that we had when we took office,” Vallejo said. “Chile has worked very seriously on this and if we can contribute to showing that it is possible to make profound changes, for the rest of the world, happy to be able to do so.”
REUTERS
More news
#Chile #popularity #President #Gabriel #Boric #plummeting