December 12, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Michelle Bachelet, ChileÕs first woman president, making her mark
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, December 12, Graphic News:  If ever she thought that becoming the first woman president of conservative Chile was the hard part, Michelle Bachelet might have changed her mind. Her first year in office has been marred by student riots, cross-border spats and financial scandal. It seems a long time ago that the socialist swept into power on a wave of national optimism.

One of her least tricky problems is how to handle the recent death of General Augusto Pinochet, whose dictatorship cast a long shadow over the South American nation. His demise may even remind Chileans that they are fortunate to have as leader a woman who embodies the belief in democracy that has characterised their society since.

An agnostic and single mother of three, Bachelet made headlines around the world when she won the second round of the 2005 elections. Signalling her intention to break with the macho political excesses of the past, she appointed 10 women to her cabinet and set about fulfilling pledges to extend health care and education to the poorest.

Though cynics pointed out that her appointment was not really so radical given that she had not only held two ministerial posts but also hailed from the leftwing coalition that had ruled Chile for 16 years, to many she represented the furthest point away from old-style politics. She also had personal experience of her countryÕs darkest days.

Born on September 29, 1951, in Santiago, Veronica Michelle Bachelet was the daughter of an anthropologist and an air force general. After President Salvador Allende was toppled in the 1973 military coup, her father Alberto was held in custody and tortured for refusing to go into exile. He subsequently died of a heart attack.

Bachelet and her mother were also tortured before being exiled. They went first to Australia and from there to East Germany, where Bachelet trained as a paediatrician and met architect Jorge Davalos, with whom she had two children. In 1979 she returned home and began working as a clandestine human rights activist. In 1992 she had a third child with physician Anibal Hernandez, but the relationship did not last.

With democracy restored in 1990, Bachelet began to climb the socialist ranks: in 1999 she played a key role in Ricardo LagosÕs campaign for the presidential nomination of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy, and he rewarded her with the health portfolio. In 2002 she became her countryÕs first female defence minister and her popularity soared, making her a natural choice for her partyÕs presidential candidate in 2005.

Events since have put the hardworking Bachelet to the test. In May almost 800,000 high school students rallied nationwide to demand educational reforms, forcing the president to go on TV to pledge changes. Her actions did not prevent further protests in August at which a number of students were injured in clashes with the police.

She has also struggled to build a Òstrategic allianceÓ with Buenos Aires after Argentina raised the price of gas sold to Chile and began levying a surcharge on petrol sold to foreign cars in the border region. Worse still, she has had to launch an anti-corruption plan amid allegations that her government has misappropriated funds.

On the plus side, Chile is copper rich and Bachelet has the political backing to push through her initiatives on poverty, unemployment and crime. To many compatriots, she is still the fresh breeze needed to blow the cobwebs out of ChileÕs darkest corners.
/ENDS