Right-Wing Businessman Wins Chile’s Presidency

It was the first time the right had won the presidency democratically in more than 50 years, and Mr. Piñera is one of a handful of conservatives elected to head a Latin American country since the region began a strong swing to the left in recent decades.

But most analysts did not see the vote as a reflection of a major conservative shift among voters as much as a sign of disenchantment with what they saw as stale ideas and a desire for renewal.

(...) With 99 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Piñera, 60, had 52 percent, to 48 percent for Eduardo Frei, 67, a former president. After the first official results were released, Mr. Frei conceded, calling the defeat “just a bump in the road.”

Nonetheless, the result was a crushing setback for the leftist coalition that had steered Chile out of the 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and helped build democracy while maintaining economic stability.

Voters not only overcame their fears of the right’s ties to the dictatorship, but they also rejected the candidate supported by an extraordinarily popular leftist president, Michelle Bachelet. Despite having approval ratings hovering around 75 percent, she was unable to transfer her popularity to Mr. Frei, whom many voters saw as a re-tread and whose campaign was unable to keep up with Mr. Piñera’s slick, well-financed effort.

Mr. Piñera has positioned himself as an experienced business leader but is not expected to make any striking changes in the country’s economic policies.