Conservative ex-president easily wins Chile election

SANTIAGO, Chile — Billionaire former president Sebastian Pinera easily won Chile’s presidential runoff election Sunday, moving the world’s top copper-producing country back to the right in the footsteps of other Latin American nations.

His rival, centre-left Sen. Alejandro Guillier, conceded defeat to his supporters and said he called Pinera to offer congratulations.

Officials said the former president had 54.6 per cent of the votes to 45.4 per cent for Guillier, with nearly all the ballots counted.

Analysts had expected a much closer race, but there had not been any opinion polls on the campaign for several weeks.

Pinera won last month’s first round, but his 36.6 per cent vote share fell far short of what polls had projected. Guillier got 22.7 per cent in the first round and was counting on support from backers of other left-leaning candidates who were eliminated.

The 64-year-old Guillier was backed by outgoing President Michelle Bachelet, but many Chileans have been disillusioned by lagging economic growth under her watch, a problem based largely on lower international prices for copper, which is the backbone of Chile’s economy. Many leftists also feel she wavered on her promises of profound social changes in labour and education policies.

Pinera, 68, struggled with large protests over Chile’s inequality and demands for education reform during his first term as president, and left office in 2014 with low popularity ratings. But he also oversaw annual economic growth of about five per cent a year.

The conservative politician proposes slashing taxes on business to revive growth and vows to launch a $14-billion, four-year spending plan that includes fresh investments in infrastructure.