Former Political Prisoner Is Chile's New President
SANTIAGO, Chile — Michelle Bachelet, a socialist who was jailed and went into exile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, was elected the first female president of this South American nation Sunday in a vote that underscored the region's leftward drift.
The 54-year-old physician and single mother, who served as health and defense minister in the administration of outgoing President Ricardo Lagos, became the first elected female chief executive in Latin America whose rise to power was not linked to a powerful husband.
"Who would have said -- five, 10, 15 years ago -- that Chile would elect a woman president?" Bachelet asked a boisterous crowd of thousands of supporters in front of her hotel in downtown Santiago, the capital. "We have shown a country can be prosperous without losing its soul."
Her remarks highlighted the changes that have overtaken this nation of 16 million people, considered among the most socially and economically conservative countries in Latin America.
"We are a new Chile," said Lagos, who remains extremely popular but could not seek reelection under Chilean law.
"We commend the people of Chile for their strong commitment to democracy, as we have seen yet again with today's election," White House spokesman David Almacy said. "We congratulate President-elect Michelle Bachelet on her selection as the next president of Chile. We have an excellent long-standing relationship with Chile and look forward to working with the new president and her team."
Bachelet, who will be sworn in for her four-year term on March 11, was the standard-bearer for the center-left coalition that has held power since Pinochet stepped down in 1990. She won nearly 54% of the vote, based on a tally from more than 97% of polling stations, the government Electoral Service said.
Her opponent, Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire moderate representing the center-right opposition, garnered 46.4%. The two were forced into a runoff when neither won a majority in December's balloting.
Pinera, owner of Chile's LAN Airlines, conceded defeat and congratulated Bachelet a little more than an hour after the first official results were released. Bachelet had been favored to win, although the tight race demonstrated that divisions in Chilean society remain 16 years after the end of Pinochet's dictatorship, which followed the violent overthrow of President Salvador Allende in 1973.
