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.woman
> .
> 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=intl>
> Create Your Own
> <http://audience.cnn.com/services/intl/alerts/manageAlerts.jsp?source=intl
> >
> Manage Alerts |
>
> <javascript:CNN_openPopup('/youralerts/popups/tour_cnn/frameset.exclude.html
>
> ','620x430','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,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
>
> _______________________________________________
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> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
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