Video: Attempts to attack Chilean President Gabriel Boric

A subject tried to attack Chilean President Gabriel Boric with a stone on Thursday, although he narrowly missed, impacting the chest of his chief of staff who was standing next to him, according to video footage from the local press.

The incident took place in the Plaza de Armas in Coquimbo, 460 kilometers north of the Chilean capital, during his first visit to the regions.

Shortly before starting a meeting with authorities in the governorate of Coquimbo, as is his custom, Boric came to greet a group of people stationed behind a high fence, at which point a person threw a stone in his direction, wandering by a few centimeters. The shell hit the right side of the chest of his chief of staff, Matías Meza-Lopehandía.

The police arrested a man and are investigating whether he was responsible for the attempted assault.

“If anyone thinks they can intimidate me or change the way we want to govern, they are very wrong. We are going to continue talking to people who agree and who disagree with us as well,” Boric said after meeting with the Coquimbo authorities.

Boric, who took office on March 11, has experienced a growing disapproval of 30 points last month, to 50%, while approval is 40 points, according to pollster Plaza Pública Cadem, who conducts weekly telephone surveys. Other public opinion companies agree on the increase in discontent.

Researchers agree that the rise in local inflation influences the decline in approval.

For decades, Chile was accustomed to annual inflation of around 3%, but in 2021 it ended with 7.2%, and in March it recorded a 1.9% increase in the cost of living, the highest in 29 years. In the first quarter alone, inflation reached 3.4 per cent.

The Boric government says that 40% of Chilean inflation is due to the enormous liquidity that the market recorded last year as a result of millionaire withdrawals of 10% from pension savings funds, which reached about $50 billion and tax subsidies provided by the previous government. The rest, he argues, is due to external factors, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(With information from AP)

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