Student protest leader to president-elect: Gabriel Boric caps rise of Chile's left

Chile's presidential candidate Gabriel Boric gives a thumbs-up while casting his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election, in Punta Arenas, Chile December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Avendano

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Ten years after leading student protests demanding better education, Gabriel Boric is set to become Chile's youngest-ever president, capping a remarkable rise for the Andean nation's progressive left.

The former law student who has pledged to bury Chile's "neoliberal" economic model convincingly defeated far-right rival Jose Antonio Kast in the country's presidential runoff on Sunday.