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Bachelet is the second child of archaeologist Ángela Jeria Gómez and Air Force Brigadier General Alberto Bachelet Martínez. Bachelet’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Louis-Joseph Bachelet Lapierre, was a French wine merchant from Chassagne-Montrachet who emigrated to Chile with his Parisian wife, Françoise Jeanne Beault, in 1860 hired as a wine-making expert by the Subercaseaux vineyards in southern Santiago. Bachelet Lapierre’s son, Germán, was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1862, and married in 1891 to Luisa Brandt Cadot, a Chilean of French and Swiss descent, giving birth in 1894 to Alberto Bachelet Brandt. Bachelet’s maternal great-grandfather, Máximo Jeria Chacón, of Spanish (Basque region) and Greek heritage, was the first person to receive a degree in agronomic engineering in Chile and founded several agronomy schools in the country.[6] He married Lely Johnson, the daughter of an English physician working in Chile. Their son, Máximo Jeria Johnson, married Angela Gómez Zamora. Their union produced five children, the fourth of whom became Bachelet’s mother.[7] Early life and career Childhood years Bachelet was born in La Cisterna,[8] a middle class suburb of Santiago. She was named after French actress Michèle Morgan.[9] Bachelet spent many of her childhood years traveling around her native Chile, moving with her family from one military base to another. She lived and attended primary school in Quintero, Cerro Moreno, Antofagasta and San Bernardo. In 1962 she moved with her family to the United States, where her father was assigned to the military mission at the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C. Her family lived for almost two years in Bethesda, Maryland, where she attended Western Junior High School and learned to speak English fluently.[10] Returning to Chile in 1964, she graduated from high school in 1969 at Liceo Nº 1 Javiera Carrera, a prestigious girls' public school, finishing near the top of her class.[11][12] There she was president of her class, a member of the school's choir and volleyball teams, and part of a theater group and a music band, "Las Clap Clap", which she co-founded and which toured around several school festivals. In 1970, after obtaining a relatively high score in the university admission test, she entered medical school at the University of Chile, where she was selected in the 113th position (out of 160 admitted applicants).[11][12][13] She originally intended to study sociology or economics, but was prevailed upon by her father to study medicine instead.[14] She has said she opted for medicine because it was "a concrete way of helping people cope with pain" and "a way to contribute to improve health in Chile."[4] Detention and exile Facing growing food shortages, the government of Salvador Allende placed Bachelet's father in charge of the Food Distribution Office. When General Augusto Pinochet suddenly came to power via the 11 September 1973 coup d'état, Bachelet's father was detained at the Air War Academy under charges of treason. Following months of daily torture at Santiago's Public Prison, he suffered a cardiac arrest that resulted in his death on 12 March 1974. In early January 1975, Bachelet and her mother were detained at their apartment by two DINA agents,[15] who blindfolded and drove them to Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, where they were separated and subjected to interrogation and torture.[16] In 2013 Bachelet revealed she had been interrogated by DINA chief Manuel Contreras there.[17] Some days later, Bachelet was transferred to Cuatro Álamos ("Four Poplars") detention center, where she was held until the end of January. Thanks to sympathetic connections in the military, Bachelet was forced into exile to Australia, where her older brother, Alberto, had moved in 1969.[11] Of her torture, Bachelet said in 2004 that "it was nothing in comparison to what others suffered". She was "yelled at using abusive language, shaken," and both she and her mother were "threatened with the killing of the other." She was "never tortured with electricity," but she did see it being done to other prisoners.[18] In May 1975, Bachelet left Australia and later moved to East Germany, to an apartment assigned to her by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) government in Am Stern, Potsdam; her mother joined her a month later, living separately in Leipzig. In October 1976, she began working at a communal clinic in the Babelsberg neighborhood, as a preparation step to continue her medical studies at an East German university. During this period, she met architect Jorge Leopoldo Dávalos Cartes, another Chilean exile, whom she married in 1977. In January 1978 she went to Leipzig to learn German at the Karl Marx University's Herder Institute (now the University of Leipzig). Her first child with Dávalos, Jorge Alberto Sebastián, was born there in June 1978. She returned to Potsdam in September 1978 to continue her medical studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin for two years. Five months after enrolling as a student, however, she obtained authorization to return to her country.[19] Return to Chile After four years in exile, Bachelet finally returned to Chile in 1979. Her medical school credits from the GDR were not transferred, forcing her to resume her studies from where she had left off before fleeing the country.[citation needed] She graduated as M.D. on 7 January 1983.[20] She wished to work in the public sector wherever attention was most needed, applying for a position as general practitioner; her petition was rejected by the military government on "political grounds". [4] Instead, because of her academic performance and published papers, she earned a scholarship from the Chilean Medical Chamber to specialize in pediatrics and public health at the University of Chile's Roberto del Río Children's Hospital (1983–86). She completed the program with excellent grades but did not obtain her certification because of "financial reasons".[21] During this time she also worked at PIDEE (Protection of Children Injured by States of Emergency Foundation), a non-governmental organization helping children of the tortured and missing in Santiago and Chillán. She was head of the foundation's Medical Department between 1986 and 1990. Some time after her second child with Dávalos, Francisca Valentina, was born in February 1984, she and her husband legally separated. Between 1985 and 1987, Bachelet had a romantic relationship with Alex Vojkovic Trier,[22] an engineer and spokesman for the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, an armed group which among other activities attempted to assassinate Pinochet in 1986. The tryst turned into a minor issue during her presidential campaign, during which she argued that she never supported any of Vojkovic's activities.[6] After Chile made a transition to democracy in 1990, Bachelet worked for the Ministry of Health's West Santiago Health Service and was a consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Health Organization and the German Corporation for Technical Cooperation. While working for the National AIDS Commission (Conasida) she became romantically involved with Aníbal Hernán Henríquez Marich, a fellow physician — and right-wing Pinochet supporter — who fathered her third child, Sofía Catalina, in December 1992; their relationship ended, however, a few years later. Between March 1994 and July 1997, Bachelet worked as Senior Assistant to the Deputy Health Minister. Driven by an interest in civil-military relations, in 1996 Bachelet began studies in military strategy at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE) in Chile, obtaining first place in her class.[4] Her student achievement earned her a presidential scholarship, permitting her to continue her studies in the United States at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., completing a Continental Defense Course in 1998. That same year she returned to Chile to work for the Defense Ministry as Senior Assistant to the Defense Minister. She subsequently graduated from a Master's program in military science at the Chilean Army's War Academy.[citation needed] Early political career Involvement in politics In her first year as a university student (1970), Bachelet became a member of the Socialist Youth (then presided by future deputy and later disappeared physician Carlos Lorca, who has been cited as her political mentor[23]), and was an active supporter of the Popular Unity. In the immediate aftermath of the coup, she and her mother worked as couriers for the underground Socialist Party directorate that was trying to organize a resistance movement; eventually almost all of them were captured and disappeared.[24] Following her return from exile she became politically active during the second half of the 1980s, fighting—though not on the front line—for the re-establishment of democracy in Chile. In 1995 she became part of the party's Central Committee, and from 1998 until 2000 she was an active member of the Political Commission. In 1996 Bachelet ran against future presidential adversary Joaquín Lavín for the mayorship of Las Condes, a wealthy Santiago suburb and a right-wing stronghold. Lavín won the 22-candidate election with nearly 78% of the vote, while she finished fourth with 2.35%. At the 1999 presidential primary of the Concertación, Chile's governing coalition from 1990–2010, she worked for Ricardo Lagos's nomination, heading the Santiago electoral zone.[citation needed] Minister of Health Bachelet, as Minister of Defense, meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 On 11 March 2000, Bachelet — virtually unknown at the time — was appointed Minister of Health by President Ricardo Lagos. She began an in-depth study of the public health-care system that led to the AUGE plan a few years later. She was also given the task of eliminating waiting lists in the saturated public hospital system within the first 100 days of Lagos's government. She reduced waiting lists by 90%, but was unable to eliminate them completely[6] and offered her resignation, which was promptly rejected by the President. She authorized free distribution of the morning-after pill for victims of sexual abuse, generating controversy.[citation needed] Minister of National Defense On 7 January 2002, she was appointed Minister of National Defense, becoming the first woman to hold this post in a Latin American country and one of the few in the world. While Minister of Defense she promoted reconciliatory gestures between the military and victims of the dictatorship, culminating in the historic 2003 declaration by General Juan Emilio Cheyre, head of the army, that "never again" would the military subvert democracy in Chile. She also oversaw a reform of the military pension system and continued with the process of modernization of the Chilean armed forces with the purchasing of new military equipment, while engaging in international peace operations. A moment which has been cited as key to Bachelet's chances to the presidency came in mid-2002 during a flood in northern Santiago where she, as Defense Minister, led a rescue operation on top of an amphibious tank, wearing a cloak and military cap.[6][25][26] 2005–2006 presidential election Main article: Chilean presidential election, 2005–2006 Bachelet during a television debate in 2005. In late 2004, following a surge of her popularity in opinion polls, Bachelet was established as the only CPD figure able to defeat Joaquín Lavín, and she was asked to become the Socialists' candidate for the presidency.[27] She was at first hesitant to accept the nomination as it was never one of her goals, but finally agreed because she felt she could not disappoint her supporters.[28] On 1 October of that year she was freed from her government post in order to begin her campaign and to help the CPD at the municipal elections held later that month. On 28 January 2005 she was named the Socialist Party's candidate for president. An open primary scheduled for July 2005 to define the sole presidential candidate of the CPD was canceled after Bachelet's only rival, Christian Democrat Soledad Alvear, a cabinet member in the first three CPD administrations, pulled out early due to a lack of support within her own party and in opinion polls.[citation needed] At the December 2005 election, Bachelet faced the center-right candidate Sebastián Piñera (RN), the right-wing candidate Joaquín Lavín (UDI) and the leftist candidate Tomás Hirsch (JPM). As the opinion polls had forecast, she failed to obtain the absolute majority needed to win the election outright, winning 46% of the vote. In the runoff election on 15 January 2006, Bachelet faced Piñera, and won the presidency with 53.5% of the vote, thus becoming her country's first female elected president and the first woman who was not the wife of a previous head of state or political leader to reach the presidency of a Latin American nation in a direct election.[29] On 30 January 2006, after being declared President-elect by the Elections Qualifying Court (Tricel), Bachelet announced her cabinet of ministers, which was unprecedentedly composed of an equal number of men and women, as was promised during her campaign. In keeping with the coalition's internal balance of power she named seven ministers from the Christian Democrat Party (PDC), five from the Party for Democracy (PPD), four from the Socialist Party (PS), one from the Social Democrat Radical Party (PRSD) and three without party affiliation. First presidency (2006–2010) The Bachelet Cabinet Office Name Party Term President Michelle Bachelet PS Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 11, 2010 Interior Andrés Zaldívar DC Mar. 11, 2006–Jul. 14, 2006 Belisario Velasco DC Jul. 14, 2006–Jan. 4, 2008 Edmundo Pérez Yoma DC Jan. 8, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Foreign Affairs Alejandro Foxley DC Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 13, 2009 Mariano Fernández DC Mar. 13, 2009–Mar. 11, 2010 Defense Vivianne Blanlot PPD Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 27, 2007 José Goñi PPD Mar. 27, 2007–Mar. 12, 2009 Francisco Vidal PPD Mar. 12, 2009–Mar. 11, 2010 Finance Andrés Velasco Ind. Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 11, 2010 Gen. Sec. of the Presidency Paulina Veloso PS Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 27, 2007 José Antonio Viera-Gallo PS Mar. 27, 2007–Mar. 10, 2010 Gen. Sec. of Government Ricardo Lagos Weber PPD Mar. 11, 2006–Dec. 6, 2007 Francisco Vidal PPD Dec. 6, 2007–Mar. 12, 2009 Carolina Tohá PPD Mar. 12, 2009–Dec. 14, 2009 Pilar Armanet PPD Dec. 18, 2009–Mar. 11, 2010 Economy Ingrid Antonijevic PPD Mar. 11, 2006–Jul. 14, 2006 Alejandro Ferreiro DC Jul. 14, 2006–Jan. 8, 2008 Hugo Lavados DC Jan. 8, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Social Development Clarisa Hardy PS Mar. 11, 2006–Jan. 8, 2008 Paula Quintana PS Jan. 8, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Education Martín Zilic DC Mar. 11, 2006–Jul. 14, 2006 Yasna Provoste (impeached) DC Jul. 14, 2006–Apr. 3, 2008 René Cortázar (interim) DC Apr. 3, 2008–Apr. 18, 2008 Mónica Jiménez DC Apr. 18, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Justice Isidro Solís PRSD Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 27, 2007 Carlos Maldonado PRSD Mar. 27, 2007–Mar. 11, 2010 Labor Osvaldo Andrade PS Mar. 11, 2006–Dec. 10, 2008 Claudia Serrano PS Dec. 15, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Public Works Eduardo Bitrán PPD Mar. 11, 2006–Jan. 11, 2008 Sergio Bitar PPD Jan. 11, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Health María Soledad Barría PS Mar. 11, 2006–Oct. 28, 2008 Álvaro Erazo PS Nov. 6, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Housing & Urbanism Patricia Poblete DC Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 11, 2010 Agriculture Álvaro Rojas DC Mar. 11, 2006–Jan. 8, 2008 Marigen Hornkohl DC Jan. 8, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Mining Karen Poniachik Ind. Mar. 11, 2006–Jan. 8, 2008 Santiago González PRSD Jan. 8, 2008–Mar. 11, 2010 Transport & Telecom Sergio Espejo DC Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 27, 2007 René Cortázar DC Mar. 27, 2007–Mar. 11, 2010 National Assets Romy Schmidt PPD Mar. 11, 2006–Jan. 6, 2010 Jacqueline Weinstein PPD Jan. 6, 2010–Mar. 11, 2010 Energy Karen Poniachik Ind. Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 29, 2007 Marcelo Tokman PPD Mar. 29, 2007–Mar. 11, 2010 Women Laura Albornoz DC Mar. 11, 2006–Oct. 20, 2009 Carmen Andrade PS Oct. 20, 2009–Mar. 11, 2010 Culture & the Arts Paulina Urrutia Ind. Mar. 11, 2006–Mar. 11, 2010 Environment Ana Lya Uriarte PS Mar. 27, 2007–Mar. 11, 2010 Bachelet waving with other leaders at the inauguration ceremony in Valparaíso. Presidential styles of Michelle Bachelet Flag of the President of Chile.svg Reference style Su Excelencia, la Presidenta de la República. "Her Excellency, the President of the Republic" Spoken style Presidenta de Chile. "President of Chile" Alternative style Señora Presidenta. "Madam President" First days Bachelet was sworn in as President of the Republic of Chile on 11 March 2006 in a ceremony held in a plenary session of the National Congress in Valparaíso which was attended by many foreign heads of states and delegates.[26] Much of Bachelet's first three months as president were spent working on 36 measures she had promised during her campaign to implement during her first 100 days in office. They ranged from simple presidential decrees, such as providing free health care for older patients, to complex bills to reform the social security system and the electoral system. For her first state visit, Bachelet chose Argentina, arriving in Buenos Aires on 21 March. There she met with president Néstor Kirchner, with whom she signed strategic agreements in energy and infrastructure, including the possibility of launching a bidding process to operate the Transandine Railway.[30] Domestic affairs Social policies In March 2006 Bachelet created an advisory committee to reform the pension system, which was headed by former budget director Mario Marcel.[31] The commission issued its final report in July 2006,[32] and in March 2008 Bachelet signed the bill into law. The new legislation established a Basic Solidarity Pension (PBS) and a Solidarity Pension Contribution (APS), guaranteeing a minimum pension for the 60% poorest segment of the population, regardless of their contribution history.[33] The reform also grants a bonus to female pensioners for every child born alive.[34] In October 2006 Bachelet enacted legislation to protect subcontracted employees, which would benefit an estimated 1.2 million workers.[35] In June 2009 she introduced pay equality legislation, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work in the private sector, regardless of gender.[36] In September 2009 Bachelet signed the "Chile Grows with You" plan into law, providing comprehensive social services to vulnerable children from ages zero to six. That law also established a social welfare management framework called the "Intersectoral Social Protection System", made up of subsystems, such as "Chile Solidario" and "Chile Grows with You".[37] Between 2008 and 2010 the Bachelet administration delivered a so-called "literary briefcase" (a box of books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, poetry works and books for both children and adults) to the 400 thousand poorest families with children attending primary school from first to fourth grade.[38] In March 2009, Bachelet launched the "I Choose my PC" program, awarding free computers to poor seventh graders with excellent academic performance attending government-subsidized schools.[39] During 2009 and 2010 Bachelet delivered layettes to all babies born in public hospitals, which are about 80% of total births.[40][41] In January 2010, Bachelet promulgated a law allowing the distribution of emergency contraception pills in public and private health centers, including to persons under 14, without parental consent. The law also requires high schools to add a sexual education program to their curriculum.[42] Student protests Bachelet's first political crisis came in late April 2006, when massive high school student demonstrations—unseen in three decades—broke out throughout the country, demanding a rise of quality levels in public education. In June 2006, she sought to dampen the student protests by setting up an 81-member advisor committee, including education experts from all political backgrounds, representatives of ethnic groups, parents, teachers, students, school owners, university rectors, people from diverse religious denominations, etc. Its purpose was to propose changes to the country's educational system and serve as a forum to share ideas and views. The committee issued its final report in December 2006.[43] In August 2009, she signed the education reform bill into law, which created two new regulatory bodies: a Superintendency on Education and a Quality Agency.[44] Transantiago During her presidency Bachelet opened 18 new subway stations in Santiago, nine in 2006, one in 2009 and eight in 2010.[45][46] In December 2009 Bachelet announced the construction of a new subway line in Santiago, to be operational by 2014[47] (the date was later changed to mid-2016[48]). In February 2007 Santiago's transport system was radically altered with the introduction of Transantiago, designed under the previous administration.[29] The system was nearly unanimously condemned by the media, the users and the opposition, significantly damaging her popularity, and leading to the sacking of her Transport minister. On her decision not to abort the plan's start, she said in April 2007 she was given erroneous information which caused her to act against her "instincts."[49] In September 2008, Chile's Constitutional Court declared a US$400 million loan by the Inter-American Development Bank to fund the transport system unconstitutional. Bachelet — who had been forced to ask for the loan after Congress had refused to approve funds for the beleaguered program in November 2007 — made use of an emergency clause in the Constitution that grants funds equivalent to 2% of the fiscal budget.[50] In November 2008, she invoked the emergency clause again after Congress denied once again funds for the system for 2009. 2010 earthquake On 27 February 2010, in the last week of summer vacations[51] and less than two weeks before Bachelet's term expired, Chile was ravaged by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 500 people, toppled apartment buildings and bridges and triggered tsunamis that wiped away entire fishing villages. Bachelet and the government were criticized for a "slow response" to the disaster, which hit on a Saturday at 3:34 a.m.[29] and left most of the country without electricity, phone or Internet access.[52][53][54] Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" and on Sunday afternoon sent military troops to the most affected areas in an effort to quell scenes of looting and arson.[29] She imposed night curfews in the most affected cities.[55] She was criticized for not deploying the troops fast enough.[56][57] Human rights In January 2009 Bachelet opened the Museum of Memory in Santiago, documenting the horrors of Pinochet's 16-and-a-half year dictatorship.[58] In November she promulgated a law (submitted to Congress during the previous administration) creating the National Institute for Human Rights, with the goal of protecting and promoting human rights in the country.[59] The law also allowed for the reopening of the Rettig and Valech commissions for 18 months.[60] Other legislation passed President Bachelet with Mayor of Pichilemu Roberto Córdova in January 2010, during the re-inauguration of the Agustín Ross Cultural Centre. In August 2008 Bachelet signed a freedom of information bill into law, which became effective in April 2009. In January 2010 Bachelet enacted a law creating the Ministry for the Environment. The new legislation also created the Environmental Evaluation Service and the Superintendency for the Environment.[61][62] Economy Bachelet was widely credited for resisting calls from politicians from her own coalition to spend the huge copper revenues to close the country’s income gap.[29][63] Instead in 2007 she created the Economic and Social Stabilization Fund, a sovereign wealth fund which accumulates fiscal surpluses which are above 1% of GDP.[64] This strategy allowed her to finance new social policies and provide economic stimulus packages when the 2008 financial crisis hit the country.[29] During Bachelet’s four years in office the economy grew at an average of 3.3% (2.3% in per capita terms), with a high of 5.7% in 2006 and a negative growth of −1.0% in 2009, due to the global financial crisis. The minimum wage was increased at an average of 2% per year in real terms (the lowest of any president since 1990), while unemployment hovered between seven and eight percent during her first three years and rose to nearly 11% during 2009. Inflation averaged 4.5% during her term, reaching close to 9% during 2008, due to an increase in food prices.[65] Absolute poverty fell from 13.7% in November 2006 to 11.5% in November 2009.[66] Political issues Bachelet began her term with an unprecedented absolute majority in both chambers of Congress—before appointed senators were eliminated in the 2005 constitutional reforms the CPD never had a majority in the Senate—but she was soon faced with internal opposition coming from a number of dissatisfied lawmakers from both chambers of Congress, the so-called díscolos ("disobedient", "ungovernable"), which jeopardized the coalition's narrow—and historic[67]—Congress majority on a number of key executive-sponsored bills during much of her first half in office, and forced her to negotiate with a right-wing opposition she saw as being "obstructionist".[68][69] During the course of 2007 the CPD lost its absolute majority in both chambers of Congress, as several senators and deputies from that coalition became independent. In December 2006, former dictator Augusto Pinochet died. Bachelet decided not to grant him a state funeral, an honour bestowed upon constitutionally elected Chilean presidents, but a military funeral as former commander-in-chief of the Army appointed by President Salvador Allende. She also refused to declare an official national day of mourning, but did authorize flags at military barracks to fly at half staff. Pinochet’s coffin was also allowed to be draped in a Chilean flag. Bachelet did not attend his funeral saying it would be "a violation of [her] conscience", and sent Defense Minister, Vivianne Blanlot.[70] In April 2008, Bachelet’s Education Minister, Yasna Provoste, was impeached by Congress for her handling of a scandal involving mismanagement of school subsidies. Her conviction was the first for a sitting minister in 36 years.[71][72][73] Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria AC (Spanish pronunciation: [βeˈɾonika miˈtʃel βatʃeˈle ˈxeɾja]; born 29 September 1951) is a Socialist Party politician and the President of Chile since 11 March 2014. She previously served as President from 2006–2010, becoming the first woman in her country to do so. After leaving the presidency, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). In December 2013, Bachelet was re-elected as President of Chile with over 62% of the vote, bettering the 53.5% she obtained in 2006. She is the first person since 1932 to win the presidency of her country twice in competitive elections.[2] Bachelet, a physician with studies in military strategy, served as Health Minister and Defense Minister under her predecessor, President Ricardo Lagos. She is a separated mother of three and describes herself as an agnostic.[3] Aside from her native Spanish, she also speaks, with varying levels of fluency, English, German, Portuguese and French.[4][5] |
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