Santiago: The stunning rescue of 33 miners has turned Mining Minister Laurence Golborne into one of Chile's most popular public figures, and the former CEO is already being mentioned as a presidential candidate.
Golborne's management of the two-month operation and the accompanying media exposure more than quadrupled his public recognition from 16 percent in July and boosted his popularity to 87 per cent ahead of Wednesday's flawless rescue.
"He could be a presidential candidate, without a doubt," said Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, one of the president's top advisors, said in a interview on state TV.
Golborne, who entered public service this year after running retail giant Cencosud, does not belong to a political party and has said his focus for now remains firmly on the mining portfolio of the world's No. 1 copper producer.
Political analysts say Golborne could be the next standard bearer for Chile's market-friendly right now led by President Sebastian Pinera, the billionaire entrepreneur who is barred by the constitution from running for re-election in 2013.
The 48-year-old Golborne, with his longish hair and boyish grin, was a constant presence on television when viewers watched a metal capsule lift the miners one-by-one up a 625 metre escape shaft to safety.
"Golborne didn't go to sleep at all during the 24-hour rescue, embracing all the miners and relatives," said Jon Farmer, an analyst for UK-based Latin American Newsletters.
"He's media savvy, he's good looking," Farmer added. "He is the most prominent businessman in a cabinet made up primarily of businessmen."
Golborne, a twice-married father of six who studied business administration at Stanford University, has not said whether or not he'd like to run. If he does move toward a candidacy, his first challenge will be choosing his allies.
Ideologically close to Pinera
His free-market values could clash with the more protectionist elements of Chile's governing centre-right coalition. And his public agnosticism may grate against the coalition's heavily Catholic, conservative base.
"Ideologically, he would be closer to Pinera than anybody else," said Patricio Navia, a political scientist at New York University.
"He told me that he believed the problem with UDI (the senior party in the coalition) was that it wanted to impose its own moral values on the rest of the population," said Navia, who has had multiple conversations with the minister.
Golborne's roots are also outside the traditional bastions of conservative power. The son of a hardware store owner from a middle-class neighbourhood, he studied at a public high school rather than one of the private Catholic schools populated by Chile's upper class.
However, his lack of political baggage could become an asset just as it was for former President Michelle Bachelet, another charismatic political star whose profile rose quickly after a public challenge in her first year in public office.
Bachelet was appointed unexpectedly as health minister in 2000 and given 90 days to eliminate waiting lines that had plagued public hospitals. The much-publicised challenge gave her a chance to showcase her empathy and efficiency, jump-starting an ascent to the presidency six years later.
Golborne has also made the most of his moment in the spotlight. A live television signal carried around the world the night of the rescue showed him seated at a campfire with relatives of the miners, strumming a guitar and singing the tunes of a Chilean communist folk singer.
When the mine caved in on August 5, the 33 men were thought to have died. Rescuers found them 2 1/2 weeks later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit.
That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass down hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive. A bigger shaft was later drilled to extract them.
