'Hope over fear': leftist Boric faces struggle to capture Chile's political center

FILE PHOTO: Chilean Presidential candidate Gabriel Boric from left-wing 'Apruebo Dignidad' (I Approve Dignity) coalition takes part in a live televised debate, in Santiago, Chile, November 15, 2021. Esteban Felix /Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Former student protest leader and leftist lawmaker Gabriel Boric faces an uphill battle persuading voters from the vanquished centrist parties to back him rather than his hard right rival when Chile holds a presidential run-off election next month.

The 35-year-old former law student, leading a leftist coalition of the broad Frente Amplio and the Communist Party, was runner-up in a first-round vote on Sunday night, behind ultra-right rival Jose Antonio Kast.