Members of the Chilean community turned out in high numbers in Sydney to decide whether progressive candidate Gabriel Boric or conservative Jose Antonio Kast will be elected as the country's president.
Mario Humberto Guzman Vargas, pictured with his wife, was among the Chileans in Australia to cast their vote in Sydney on Sunday.Chileans living in Australia have been among the first to cast their votes in the final round of the country's presidential election.
The country of 19 million people is on edge, fearing renewed mass protests in response to the outcome of the neck-and-neck race between Mr Kast, a 55-year-old lawyer, and Mr Boric, a millennial and former student activist 20 years his junior. “I saw that they changed some policies in the last couple of weeks. I hope they will listen to all sides of the political spectrum."
Socially-liberal Mr Boric, who has taken up the mantle of Chile's 2019 anti-inequality uprising, has vowed to create a "welfare state" by increasing social spending in a country with one of the world's largest gaps between rich and poor.“I hope that Kast wins. He will bring peace and security; the terrorism and narcotrafficking will end. So he will bring security, justice and opportunities for jobs,” Mario Humberto Guzman Vargas told SBS News.
“I think Boric has a good chance, but I don’t want to speculate,” Paula Andrea Castro Lopez, election observer for Chile’s broad-left Approve Dignity campaign, told SBS News.
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