Chile's youngest-ever president takes office

BOGOTA, Colombia

Gabriel Boric was sworn in the city of Valparaiso on Friday as Chile’s president, becoming, at the age of 36, the youngest person to rule the South American nation.

Boric defeated the far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast in December 2021, winning 55.8% of the votes running on a platform of more social protections for the poor and boosting taxes to pay for social reform. He has announced unprecedented decisions in the country including appointing a majority woman cabinet composed of 14 women and 10 men.

After the national anthem was played on Friday and former conservative president Sebastian Pinera left the congress, Boric swore in the members of his cabinet.

"I am deeply proud of this cabinet," said Boric, who has promised to reduce the workweek and create 500,000 jobs for women.

The new president, who has yet to graduate as a lawyer, and who served as a deputy in 2014, emerged as a leader of the 2019 student protests against deep inequality in income, healthcare and education, which boosted the process to rewrite Chile's dictatorship-era constitution.

Experts say his arrival marks the new Latin American left under which he has distanced himself from the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan governments.

The ceremony was attended by nearly 500 guests including heads of state and prominent figures, among them presidents of Ecuador Guillermo Lasso, Dominican Republic president Luis Abinader, Argentina's Alberto Fernandez and the King of Spain, Felipe VI. President of Peru Pedro Castillo and the presidents of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, Bolivia's president Luis Arce, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry, and the representative of the US Government, Isabella Casillas were in attendance too.

Boric, who will assume power for a period of 4 years, is expected to travel to the capital of Santiago later Friday where he will deliver his first speech as president from the balcony of La Moneda Presidential Palace.