Chilean President Gabriel Boric was highlighted by the American magazine Time as one of the hundred most influential people of 2022, mainly because he became the youngest head of state and with the most votes cast in the history of the country. the profile of the Chilean president in the magazine was written by the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001, Joseph Stiglitzwho remarked that Boric represented “a changing of the guard, but more importantly, it marked a change of direction for the economy of Chile and possibly the world.”
“Boric’s approach combines fiscal responsibility with a more competitive economy, better social protections and working conditions, social equality and inclusion, and environmental protection,” Stiglitz explained in the magazine.
The also academic from Columbia University gave an account of the hard work for the creation of a new Constitution, in a context of divided politics, and highlighted that “Boric will need all the skills he has already demonstrated: listening and communication, empathy, and a deep understanding of Chilean history and culture. It is making Chile again the social, economic and political laboratory of the world”.
Approval for Boric, according to the weekly Cadem poll, was fifty percent at the start of his term, a figure that according to the latest polls is 38. The next few months will be key for the president, with the exit plebiscite for the new Constitution (September 4) as one of the most important challenges, added to the control of the economy and crime at the country level.
Ukraine’s President Volodimir Zelensky, China’s Xi Jinping, the United States’ Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are other leaders nominated by Time magazine in the current edition.