RE: [xmca] A bit of good news

From: David Preiss (davidpreiss@puc.cl)
Date: Mon Jan 16 2006 - 08:46:52 PST


Quite the contrary, Mike.

Bachelet is closer to Kirshner's ethos than Lagos. Actually, his wife was
here to congratulate her. Considering South America's tilt to the left
Bachelet would make easier our dealings with the other South American
countries. What is going opposite ways is USA and South America, in general.
Although Bachelet is at the right of the whole trend of South America to the
left, she is certainly more skeptical of USA's power than Lagos.
Interestingly enough, there are no news yet of a phone call from Bush to
congratulate her, although Chirac, Zapatero and many others have done so
already. I wonder how far will the USA government go South America without
risky and brutal interventions. Chile is not at risk. But Venezuela, Bolivia
and weaker democracies are.

Meanwhile, it was beautiful to see many women in downtown Santiago wearing
presidential bands as a way to celebrate.

David D. Preiss Ph.D.
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
www.uc.cl/psicologia

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Mike Cole
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 1:41 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Cc: JJ Fueser; Linda Jarvin; Clairbelle@aol.com; Robert Sternberg; Jens
Beckmann; Overmyer-Velazquez, Mark; Damian Birney; hertzjms@aol.com; Steven
Shafer
Subject: Re: [xmca] A bit of good news

Hi David
Yes, I was thinking of your and your colleagues when the news of Bchelet's
victory became known here in the US and her involvement in the anti-Pinochet
movement made visible to Americans. On the other hand, the fact that
Argentina has cut off natural gas supplies speaks to ongoing tensions in the
area that I am sure must be of great concern to you, and to us all. A
reflection of the differing political-economic paths that Argentina and
Chile are taking? mike

On 1/16/06, David Preiss <davidpreiss@puc.cl> wrote:
>
>
> OK. t's true. The world is going to hell everywhere. But a bit of hope
> is coming from the South:
>
> Ex-political prisoner elected Chile's first female president SANTIAGO,
> Chile (AP) -- Michelle Bachelet's path to Chile's presidency has taken
> her from a dictator's jail cell to exile in East Germany and back home
> as a respected defense minister.
> Her rise to power stunned many Chileans who thought a socialist single
> mother jailed during Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship stood little
> chance in this conservative Catholic country where divorce is a touchy
> issue.
> Bachelet, the first woman to be elected president in Chile, won 53 percent
> of the vote in Sunday's runoff, compared with 46 percent for Sebastian
> Pinera, a conservative wealthy businessman, according to official results.
> Her victory extended the rule of the market-friendly, center-left
> coalition
> that has governed since the end Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.
> "Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago -- that a woman would be elected
> president!" Bachelet told thousands of supporters.
> The elections underlined Latin America's tilt toward the left, though
> Bachelet has promised to maintain the free-market policies that have made
> Chile's economy one of the strongest in the region.
> The 54-year-old pediatrician had expected resistance from Chile's
> conservative military establishment -- and not only because of her family
> background. "I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic ... all
> possible sins together," she said recently.
> Bachelet's father was an air force general who was arrested and tortured
> for
> opposing the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power. Alberto Bachelet
> died
> in prison of a heart attack, probably caused by the torture, Bachelet
> says.
> A 22-year-old medical student at the time, Bachelet also was arrested,
> along
> with her mother. They were blindfolded, beaten and denied food for five
> days
> while their cellmates were raped -- an ordeal she doesn't want to talk
> about
> except to say she and her mother were "physically mistreated." She insists
> she harbors no rancor because she has "a political understanding of why
> those things happened."
> They were later forced into five years in exile, first in Australia, then
> communist East Germany, where Bachelet married a fellow Chilean exile.
> They
> later separated, and she had a third child from a new relationship.
> Back in Chile, Bachelet worked underground with other leftist exiles,
> quietly advancing in the Socialist Party. She became a well-known figure
> in
> the center-left coalition that has ruled since 1990.
> Current President Ricardo Lagos, who was constitutionally barred from
> seeking re-election, made her his health minister, then in 2002 named her
> defense minister. She won praise for helping heal divisions between
> civilians and military left over from the dictatorship.
> Bachelet -- who was at the top of her class in a Chilean course on
> military
> studies -- became a popular figure among the admirals and generals. The
> air
> force presented her with a leather flight jacket with her name stamped on
> it, and as defense minister she would often respond to an officer's
> military
> salute with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.
> Lagos and Bachelet belong to the same Socialist Party as Salvador Allende,
> whose leftist policies prompted Pinochet's bloody coup. But the party
> allied
> with other major left-center parties in 1990 to oust the right wing, and
> their coalition has held while leading Chile into a free-trade pact with
> the
> United States, cutting inflation and fostering growth of about 6 percent a
> year.
> In spite of their different political backgrounds and ideologies, both
> Bachelet and Pinera outlined similar goals. Both said they would fight to
> lower the 8 percent unemployment rate, improve public health, housing and
> education services and curb rising urban crime.
> They also promised to reform Chile's 25-year-old private social security
> systems to ensure better pensions for retirees, though neither has given
> details of how.
> Bachelet, the third woman in Latin America to be directly elected
> president,
> will be inaugurated March 11, joining the ranks of Latin American leaders
> including leftists such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and newly elected Evo
> Morales of Bolivia.
> She indicated she would work with all the region's leaders. "Chavez,
> Morales, they are presidents elected by their peoples. Chile must have
> relationships with all of them."
> The country for the most part accepted Bachelet's candidacy, although her
> gender prompted questions she didn't like.
> "You wouldn't be asking that question if I was a man," she told a Chilean
> newspaper reporter who asked if she would marry again.
> But she did answer: "The truth is that I haven't had the time to even
> think
> about that. My next four years will be dedicated to work."
> Copyright 2006 The <http://edition.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html#AP>
> Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published,
> broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
> Ex-political prisoner elected Chile's first female president
>
>
> Monday, January 16, 2006 Posted: 1350 GMT (2150 HKT)
>
>
> chile.woman.ap.jpg
> <
> http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/WORLD/americas/01/16/chile.vote.ap/chile.w
> oman
> .
> ap.jpg>
> Michelle Bachelet, the Socialist presidential candidate, votes Sunday.
>
> Image:
>
> YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
>
> Chile
> Michelle Bachelet
> or
> <http://audience.cnn.com/services/intl/alerts/createAlert.jsp?source=i
> ntl>
> Create Your Own
> <http://audience.cnn.com/services/intl/alerts/manageAlerts.jsp?source=intl
> >
> Manage Alerts |
>
> <javascript:CNN_openPopup('/youralerts/popups/tour_cnn/frameset.exclud
> e.html
>
> ','620x430','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=n
> o,scro
> llbars=no,resizable=no,width=620,height=430');> What Is This?
> SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Michelle Bachelet's path to Chile's presidency has
> taken her from a dictator's jail cell to exile in East Germany and back
> home
> as a respected defense minister.
> Her rise to power stunned many Chileans who thought a socialist single
> mother jailed during Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship stood little
> chance in this conservative Catholic country where divorce is a touchy
> issue.
> Bachelet, the first woman to be elected president in Chile, won 53 percent
> of the vote in Sunday's runoff, compared with 46 percent for Sebastian
> Pinera, a conservative wealthy businessman, according to official results.
> Her victory extended the rule of the market-friendly, center-left
> coalition
> that has governed since the end Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.
> "Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago -- that a woman would be elected
> president!" Bachelet told thousands of supporters.
> The elections underlined Latin America's tilt toward the left, though
> Bachelet has promised to maintain the free-market policies that have made
> Chile's economy one of the strongest in the region.
> The 54-year-old pediatrician had expected resistance from Chile's
> conservative military establishment -- and not only because of her family
> background. "I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic ... all
> possible sins together," she said recently.
> Bachelet's father was an air force general who was arrested and tortured
> for
> opposing the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power. Alberto Bachelet
> died
> in prison of a heart attack, probably caused by the torture, Bachelet
> says.
> A 22-year-old medical student at the time, Bachelet also was arrested,
> along
> with her mother. They were blindfolded, beaten and denied food for five
> days
> while their cellmates were raped -- an ordeal she doesn't want to talk
> about
> except to say she and her mother were "physically mistreated." She insists
> she harbors no rancor because she has "a political understanding of why
> those things happened."
> They were later forced into five years in exile, first in Australia, then
> communist East Germany, where Bachelet married a fellow Chilean exile.
> They
> later separated, and she had a third child from a new relationship.
> Back in Chile, Bachelet worked underground with other leftist exiles,
> quietly advancing in the Socialist Party. She became a well-known figure
> in
> the center-left coalition that has ruled since 1990.
> Current President Ricardo Lagos, who was constitutionally barred from
> seeking re-election, made her his health minister, then in 2002 named her
> defense minister. She won praise for helping heal divisions between
> civilians and military left over from the dictatorship.
> Bachelet -- who was at the top of her class in a Chilean course on
> military
> studies -- became a popular figure among the admirals and generals. The
> air
> force presented her with a leather flight jacket with her name stamped on
> it, and as defense minister she would often respond to an officer's
> military
> salute with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.
> Lagos and Bachelet belong to the same Socialist Party as Salvador Allende,
> whose leftist policies prompted Pinochet's bloody coup. But the party
> allied
> with other major left-center parties in 1990 to oust the right wing, and
> their coalition has held while leading Chile into a free-trade pact with
> the
> United States, cutting inflation and fostering growth of about 6 percent a
> year.
> In spite of their different political backgrounds and ideologies, both
> Bachelet and Pinera outlined similar goals. Both said they would fight to
> lower the 8 percent unemployment rate, improve public health, housing and
> education services and curb rising urban crime.
> They also promised to reform Chile's 25-year-old private social security
> systems to ensure better pensions for retirees, though neither has given
> details of how.
> Bachelet, the third woman in Latin America to be directly elected
> president,
> will be inaugurated March 11, joining the ranks of Latin American leaders
> including leftists such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and newly elected Evo
> Morales of Bolivia.
> She indicated she would work with all the region's leaders. "Chavez,
> Morales, they are presidents elected by their peoples. Chile must have
> relationships with all of them."
> The country for the most part accepted Bachelet's candidacy, although her
> gender prompted questions she didn't like.
> "You wouldn't be asking that question if I was a man," she told a Chilean
> newspaper reporter who asked if she would marry again.
> But she did answer: "The truth is that I haven't had the time to even
> think
> about that. My next four years will be dedicated to work."
> Copyright 2006 The <http://edition.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html#AP>
> Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published,
> broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
>
> David D. Preiss Ph.D.
> Pontificia Universidad Cat lica de Chile
> www.uc.cl/psicologia
>
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>

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