Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s rise is part of a regional shift to the left. After a decade of right-wing domination, leftists have recently won power in five of Latin America’s six largest economies, many on platforms to fight inequality.
But Boric is also something new. An older generation of Latin American leftists, including many still active today, have often made troubling sacrifices—disregarding the environment, democracy, or human rights—in pursuit of a socialist society. Boric says those issues are a core part of his progressive ideology.
“I think that as a society we should aspire to forms of organization that go beyond capitalism, but it’s not like I can say, ‘Capitalism ends today,’” Boric says.
Whatever happens, as Chile’s most leftwing President in half a century, he is promising to transform the country.
In August, TIME staff writer Ciara Nugent sat down with Boric to discuss the constitution, his political rise, and his vision for Chile. Read the full interview at the link in our bio.
Pictured here: 1: President Gabriel Boric walks down a street in the Yungay neighborhood. Boric settled in this historic and low income neighborhood of the city of Santiago after assuming presidency. 2: Boric checks his phone in the corridor of La Moneda presidential palace. 3: Boric in 2012 with student leaders, including future official spokesperson Camila Vallejo, right. 4: Boric celebrates his victory with supporters on election night. 5: The president peeks out from the balcony of the presidential house, Palacio de la Moneda—the same one he used for his speech on the day of his inauguration as President.
Photographs by 1, 2, 5: Luján Agusti (@lujanag) for TIME; 3: Fernando Lavoz—NurPhoto/Getty Images; 4: Felipe Figueroa—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images