Chile’s “free and fair elections” are a “powerful example for the region and the world,” US President Joe Biden told leftist leader Gabriel Boric, who won elections this month as the youngest democratic president elected country.
Biden called Boric on Thursday to congratulate him on the election, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, and the two leaders discussed commitments to social justice, democracy, human rights and inclusive growth.
“The president applauded Chile’s free and fair elections as a powerful example for the region and the world,” she said.
Biden highlighted the importance of US-Chile cooperation to promote an equitable ecological pandemic recovery and to address the threat posed by climate change, according to the White House.
On social media, Boric commented on the conversation. “In addition to the shared joy of our respective electoral triumphs, we talked about common challenges like fair trade, the climate crisis and strengthening democracy. We’ll keep talking.”
The US president also offered his condolences on the death of a 14-year-old Chilean girl, Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was shot dead in a store in North Hollywood, USA, on December 23, when a police officer opened fire on a man who was attacking another buyer. Orellana-Peralta, born and raised in Santiago, had been in the United States for six months with her mother visiting an older sister, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The friendly dialogue between Biden and Boric was at odds with the relationship with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, the last among the main Latin American leaders to congratulate the Chilean.
Famous after leading student protests in 2011, Boric won the election against ultra-rightist José Antonio Kast, who had support from the Bolsonaro clan. Days after Kast’s defeat, Bolsonaro said in a broadcast to supporters on social networks that he had determined that Itamaraty would congratulate “this Boric”.
The surroundings of the Brazilian president publicly lamented Boric’s victory. Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL-SP) highlighted the level of abstention in the Chilean elections, as his father did in live, and established a relationship with the dispute in 2022 in Brazil. “Beating your chest saying you didn’t vote for any politician will only make history [no Brasil] if it repeats itself,” said Eduardo. “If we don’t understand the left’s strategy, we will end up governed by one of them.”
Former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles stated that “Chile has fallen”. The Minister for Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, published a map of South America with the communist symbol of the hammer and sickle. The image was shared by supporters of the president.
In response, Boric reacted and stated, “Clearly, we are very different.” “I will not make intemperate statements. I believe that in state policies it is necessary to be a little more careful,” said the president-elect.
.
