President Gabriel Boric called on president-elect José Antonio Kast to reach a consensus on the Universal Childcare project during his speech at Congreso Futuro 2026. Boric stressed the need to overcome political differences and advance this initiative under discussion for nearly 20 years. The message comes amid tensions between the government and opposition over key legislative projects.
During the inaugural ceremony of Congreso Futuro 2026, President Gabriel Boric addressed his successor, José Antonio Kast, directly, urging him to approve the Universal Childcare project. "I invite you to approve the Childcare project that has been under discussion for nearly 20 years, and today we have a technical consensus with the teams (…) let's take advantage, José Antonio, president-elect, to reach an agreement on this and move it forward," Boric stated.
The president acknowledged the differences within the Social Stability Front (FES) but insisted on the potential for consensus on this issue. "I understand that there are many differences in the FES, surely we will have them and maintain them, but I believe that there (Childcare) we can reach a consensus," he said. He also advised politicians not to always assume the worst version of their counterparts' arguments: "Let's not always think, this is a particular message for those of us in politics, of the worst possible version of what my counterpart argues."
This call comes after Kast's criticisms of the current administration at an Icare event, and as the government accuses the opposition of freezing talks to unblock key legislative projects, such as Childcare. The initiative aims to ensure universal childcare, a long-pending issue in the Chilean Congress for decades, and represents a potential area of cooperation between the outgoing and incoming governments.
