Michelle Bachelet
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225625328
2008-07-14T16:48:22Z
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Robot - move category per [[WP:CFD|CFD]] [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 July 8|2008 July 8]]
{{Infobox President
| name = Michelle Bachelet
| image = Michelle Bachelet with sash.jpg
| order = [[President of Chile]]
| term_start = [[11 March]] [[2006]]
| predecessor = [[Ricardo Lagos]]
| order2 = [[Ministry of National Defense (Chile)|Minister of Defense]]
| term_start2 = [[07 January]] [[2002]]
| term_end2 = [[01 October]] [[2004]]
| predecessor2 = [[Mario Fernández]]
| successor2 = [[Jaime Ravinet]]
| order3 = [[Ministry of Public Health (Chile)|Minister of Health]]
| term_start3 = [[11 March]] [[2000]]
| term_end3 = [[07 January]] [[2002]]
| predecessor3 = [[Álex Figueroa]]
| successor3 = [[Osvaldo Artaza]]
| order4 = President pro tempore of [[Union of South American Nations|Unasur]]
| term_start4 = [[23 May]] [[2008]]
| predecessor4 = None
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|09|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], [[Chile]]
| party = [[Socialist Party of Chile|PSC]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Chile]]
| religion = [[Agnostic]]
| profession = [[Doctor of Medicine]]
}}
'''Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria''' /[[IPA|beˈɾonika mɪˈʃɛl baʃˈle ˈxeɾja]]/ (born [[September 29]] [[1951]]) is a [[centre-left|center-left]] politician and the current [[President of Chile]]—the first woman to hold this position in the country's history. She won the [[Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006|2006 presidential election]] in a runoff, beating center-right billionaire businessman and former senator [[Sebastián Piñera]], with 53.5% of the vote. A moderate [[Socialist Party of Chile|Socialist]], she campaigned on a platform of continuing Chile's [[free market]] policies, while increasing [[social security|social benefits]] to help reduce the country's gap between rich and poor, [[List of countries by income equality|the 13<sup>th</sup> largest in the world]]. She was inaugurated on [[March 11]] [[2006]].
Bachelet—a [[surgeon]], [[pediatrics|pediatrician]] and [[epidemiologist]] with studies in [[military strategy]]—served as Health Minister and Defense Minister under President [[Ricardo Lagos]]. She is a [[legal separation|separated]] mother of three and a self-described [[agnosticism|agnostic]]<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.mujeresconbachelet.cl/Pages/EntrevistasCorrea.html
| title=Title unknown
| last=Correa
| first=Raquel
| work=[[El Mercurio]]
| date=[[April 3]] [[2005]]
| accessdate=2007-12-08
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>. A [[Polyglot (person)|polyglot]], she speaks [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[French language|French]].<ref name="govbio">{{cite web
| url=http://www.gobiernodechile.cl/biogra_bachelet/
| title=Biografía Michelle Bachelet
| accessdate=2007-02-02
| work=Gobierno de Chile
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> In 2007, ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine ranked her as 27th in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/11/biz-07women_Michelle-Bachelet_Z2QJ.html
| accessdate=2007-08-31
| date=[[August 31]] [[2007]]
| title=The 100 Most Powerful Women: #27 Michelle Bachelet
| work=[[Forbes]]
}}</ref> (10 spots down from the 2006 list<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/11/06women_Michelle-Bachelet_Z2QJ.html
| accessdate=2006-08-31
| date=[[August 31]] [[2006]]
| title=The 100 Most Powerful Women: #17 Michelle Bachelet
| work=[[Forbes]]
}}</ref>). In 2008, ''[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]'' magazine ranked her 15 on its list of the world's 100 most influential people.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733757_1735593,00.html
| accessdate=2008-05-02
| date=[[May 1]] [[2008]]
| title=The World's Most Influential People - The 2008 TIME 100 - Leaders & Revolutionaries - Michelle Bachelet
| work=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]
}}</ref>
==Life and career==
===Early life===
Bachelet was born in [[Santiago, Chile]], the second child of archaeologist Ángela Jeria Gómez and [[Chilean Air Force|Air Force]] [[Brigadier General]] [[Alberto Bachelet|Alberto Bachelet Martínez]]. Her paternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Bachelet Lapierre, was a [[French people|French]] wine merchant from [[Chassagne-Montrachet]] who emigrated to Chile with his [[Paris]]ian wife in 1860, hired as a wine-making expert by the Subercaseaux vineyards. Bachelet Lapierre's son, Germán-Michelle Bachelet's great-grandfather, was born in Chile and married a French-[[Swiss people|Swiss]] woman. Her maternal grandfather, [[Máximo Jeria|Máximo Jeria Chacón]], of [[Greeks|Greek]] ancestry, was the first person to receive a degree in [[agronomy|agronomic engineering]] in Chile and founded several agronomy schools in the country.<ref name="cidob">{{cite web
| url=http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/chile/michelle_bachelet_jeria
| date=[[March 9]] [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-05-18
| title=Biografías de Líderes Políticos CIDOB: Michelle Bachelet Jeria
| work= [[Fundació CIDOB]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>
Much of Bachelet's childhood years were spent traveling around 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, DC|Washington]]. Her family spent almost two years living in [[Bethesda, Maryland]], where she attended Western Junior High School (now known as [[Westland Middle School]]) and learned to speak English fluently.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C10FA3F5B0C758DDDA80894DE404482
| title=Woman in the News; A Leader Making Peace With Chile's Past
| accessdate=2006-01-16
| last=Rohter
| first=Larry
| date=[[January 16]] [[2006]]
| work=[[The New York Times]]
}}</ref> Returning to Chile in 1964, she graduated from high school in 1969 at Liceo Nº 1 Javiera Carrera, a prestigious girls-only public school, finishing near the top of her class.<ref name="lavidade" /><ref name="notasyPAA">{{cite web|url= http://www.latercera.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,3255_5714_93568820,00.html |title= Los años de Alvear y Bachelet en el Liceo 1 |accessdate=2008-01-25 |date=[[October 10]] [[2004]] |work=[[La Tercera]] |language=Spanish }}</ref> 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 called ''Las Clap Clap'' (which she helped found) that toured through many school festivals. She entered medical school at the [[Universidad de Chile|University of Chile]] in [[1970]], after obtaining one of the highest national scores in the university admission test.<ref name="lavidade" /><ref name="notasyPAA" /> She originally wanted to study [[sociology]] or [[economics]] but was prevailed upon by her father to study medicine instead.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20060115/pags/20060115211311.html
| title=Biografía de Michelle Bachelet
| accessdate=2006-01-15
| work=[[La Nación (Chile)|La Nación]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> 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."<ref name="govbio" />
===Torture and exile===
Facing growing food shortages, the government of [[Salvador Allende]] placed Bachelet's father in charge of the Food Distribution Office. When [[Augusto Pinochet]] came to power in the [[September 11]] [[1973]] [[Chilean coup of 1973|coup]], General Bachelet, refusing exile, was detained at the Air War Academy, under charges of [[treason]]. Following months of daily torture at Santiago's Public Prison, on [[March 12]] [[1974]], he suffered a [[cardiac arrest]] that resulted in his death.<!--Bachelet's then-boyfriend, Jaime López, was also detained and tortured before his [[forced disappearance]].--> On [[January 10]] [[1975]], Bachelet and her mother were detained at their apartment by two [[DINA]] agents, who blindfolded them and drove them to [[Villa Grimaldi]], a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, where they were separated and submitted to interrogation and torture.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article332446.ece
| title=Single mother poised to be Chilean President
| accessdate=2005-12-12
| date=[[December 12]] [[2005]]
| last=Davison
| first=Phil
| work=[[The Independent]]
}}</ref> Some days later they were transferred to Cuatro Álamos ("Four Poplars") detention center, where they were held until the end of January. Later in [[1975]], due to sympathetic connections in the military, both were exiled to [[Australia]], where Bachelet's older brother Alberto had moved in 1969.<ref name="lavidade">{{cite web
| url=http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20060116/pags/20060116011432.html
| title=La vida de la primera Presidenta de Chile
| date=[[January 16]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2006-01-16
| work=[[La Nación (Chile)|La Nación]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>
In May 1975, Bachelet left Australia and 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 Dávalos, another Chilean exile, whom she married in [[1977]]. In January 1978 she went to Leipzig to learn [[German language|German]] at the [[Karl Marx University|Karl Marx University's]] [[Herder Institute]] (now the [[University of Leipzig]]). Her first child with Dávalos, Sebastián, was born there that same year. 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.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.tercera.com/medio/articulo/0,0,3255_66602343_199370524,00.html
| title=Las huellas de Bachelet en Alemania Oriental
| date=[[April 9]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2006-04-09
| work=[[La Tercera]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>
===Return to Chile===
In February 1979 Bachelet returned to Chile from [[East Germany]]. 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. She graduated as an M.D. in 1982, opting to work in the public sector, applying for a position as [[general practitioner]], to wherever attention was most needed; her petition was, however, rejected by the military government on "political grounds."<ref name="govbio" /> Instead, because of her academic performance and published papers, she earned a scholarship to specialize in [[pediatrics]] and [[public health]] at Children's Hospital Roberto del Río (1983–1986). 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— was born in 1984, she and her husband legally separated.
Between 1985 and 1987 Bachelet had a romantic relationship with Alex Vojkovic Trier<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.latercera.cl/medio/articulo/imprimir/0,0,3255_66602343_147819372,00.html
| title=La historia del ex frentista que fue pareja de Bachelet
| date=[[July 10]] [[2005]]
| accessdate=2005-07-10
| work=[[La Tercera]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>, a Communist engineer and spokesman for the [[Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front]], an armed group which among other activities attempted to assassinate [[Augusto Pinochet]] in [[1986]]. This affair turned into a minor issue during her presidential campaign, during which she argued that she never supported any of Vojkovic's activities.<ref name="cidob" />
In 1990, after democracy was restored in Chile, 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 [[Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit|German Corporation for Technical Cooperation]]. While working for the National AIDS Commission (Conasida), she became romantically involved with Aníbal Henríquez, a fellow [[physician]] —and right-wing Pinochet supporter—, who fathered her third child, Sofia, in 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 for Strategic and Policy Studies (Anepe) in Chile, obtaining first place in her class.<ref name="govbio" /> 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, DC]], 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 degree|Master's]] program in [[military science]] at the [[Military of Chile|Chilean Army]]'s War Academy.
==Political life==
===Involvement in politics===
In her first year as university student (1970), Bachelet became a member of the [[Socialist Youth]] (then presided by future deputy and now disappeared physician [[Carlos Lorca]], her political mentor<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.latercera.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,38039290_101111578_310776715,00.html
| title=El libro que emocionó a Bachelet
| accessdate=2008-01-26
| work=[[Qué Pasa]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>), 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 of Chile|Socialist Party]] directorate that was trying to organize a [[Resistance movement]]; eventually almost all of them were captured and [[Forced disappearance|disappeared]].<ref>{{cite web
| url= http://papeldigital.info/ltrep/ |work=[[La Tercera]]
| title=Las historias clandestinas de Bachelet
| accessdate=2007-12-27
| date=[[December 9]] [[2007]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> 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.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} 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. Lavín won the election with nearly 78% of the vote, while she finished fourth at 2.35%. At the 1999 [[Coalition of Parties for Democracy]] (CPD—Chile's governing coalition since 1990) presidential primary, she worked for Ricardo Lagos's nomination, heading the Santiago electoral zone.
===Ministership===
[[Image:BacheletRumsfeld.jpg|thumb|Bachelet, as Minister of Defense, meeting with U.S. [[Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] in 2002]]
On [[March 11]] [[2000]] Bachelet —a virtual 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. Unable to meet this goal (she had reduced waiting lists by 90%)<ref name="cidob"/>, she offered her resignation, which was promptly rejected by the President. More controversially, she allowed for the free distribution of the [[morning-after pill]] for victims of sexual abuse.
On [[January 7]] [[2002]] Bachelet was appointed Defense Minister, 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 during a flood in northern Santiago, where she, as Defense Minister, led a rescue operation on top of an [[Amphibious vehicle|amphibious tank]], wearing a cloak and military cap.<ref>See image [http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20060310/asocfile/ASOCFILE1420060310130054.jpg here].</ref><ref name="cidob" />
===Presidential candidacy===
{{main|Chilean presidential election, 2005-2006}}
In late [[2004]], following a surge of her popularity in opinion polls, Bachelet was established as the only CPD figure able to defeat Lavín, and she was asked to become the Socialists' candidate for the presidency.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,13755,1648008,00.html
| title='All I want in life is to walk along the beach, holding my lover's hand'
| date=[[November 22]] [[2005]]
| accessdate=2005-11-22
| work=[[The Guardian]]
}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.lun.com/modulos/catalogo/paginas/2006/01/19/LUCST09LU1901.htm
| title='Estuve una semana encerrada en un cajón, vendada, atada'
| date=[[January 19]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2006-01-19
| last=Santa María
| first=Orietta
| work=[[Las Últimas Noticias]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> On [[October 1]] 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. On [[January 28]] [[2005]], she was proclaimed 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 Party of Chile|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.
At the December 2005 election, Bachelet faced the center-right candidate [[Sebastián Piñera]] ([[National Renewal (Chile)|RN]]), the right-wing candidate [[Joaquín Lavín]] ([[Independent Democratic Union|UDI]]) and the far-left candidate [[Tomás Hirsch]] ([[Juntos Podemos Más|JPM]]). As predicted by opinion polls, she failed to obtain the [[absolute majority]] needed to win the election outright, winning 46% of the vote. In the runoff election on [[January 15]], [[2006]], Bachelet faced Piñera, and won the presidency with 53.5% of the vote, thus becoming her country's [[List of women heads of state|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 America]]n nation in a [[direct election]].
On [[January 30]] [[2006]], after being declared President-elect by the Electoral Tribunal (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 (parliament)|balance of power]], she named seven ministers from the [[Christian Democrat Party of Chile|Christian Democrat Party]] (PDC), five from the [[Party for Democracy]] (PPD), four from the [[Socialist Party of Chile|Socialist Party]] (PS), one from the [[Social Democrat Radical Party]] (PRSD) and three of no party affiliation. In the days that followed, she named the group of deputy ministers and regional intendants, following the same rule of "gender parity."<br clear="all">
==Presidency==
{{M Bachelet cabinet infobox}}
[[Image:Bachelet Jefes Estado2.jpg|250px|left|thumb|Bachelet saluting with world leaders at the inauguration ceremony in Valparaíso.]]
Bachelet was sworn in as President of the Republic of Chile on [[March 11]] [[2006]], in a ceremony held in a plenary session of the [[National Congress of Chile|National Congress]] in [[Valparaíso]], which was attended by a record number of foreign heads of states and delegates.
===Domestic affairs===
Most 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.
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 (''see:'' [[2006 student protests in Chile]]). These protests and a sharp drop in her popularity, forced Bachelet to reshuffle her cabinet after only four months in office— a record in the country's history.<ref>It might be argued that [[Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle]]'s cabinet reshuffling, on his sixth month in office, is comparable, considering he had a six-year mandate, two more than Bachelet.</ref>
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet approval ratings.png|200px|thumb|left|Job-approval ratings.]]
The final months of 2006 were marred by reports of alleged misspending of public funds during the previous administration, specially in [[Chiledeportes]], a government sports funding organization. There were also accusations of misappropriation of funds channeled through phantom firms and identity theft to fund congressional campaigns in late 2005. The scandal prompted Bachelet to present an anti-corruption plan in late November (''see:'' [[2006 corruption scandals in Chile]]). Other issues faced by Bachelet during her first year included, the death of general [[Augusto Pinochet]], a controversial decree allowing for the free distribution of the "[[morning-after pill]]" to girls as young as 14 years of age without parental consent<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/p4_noticias/antialone.html?page=http://www.cooperativa.cl/p4_noticias/site/artic/20070129/pags/20070129214009.html
| title=Bachelet ya firmó decreto que autoriza entrega de la 'píldora'
| date=[[January 29]] [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-01-29
| work=[[Radio Cooperativa]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref>, a nine-month Government-Congress deadlock over the naming of a new Comptroller General, and a difficult implementation of a new public transport system for the capital Santiago (''see:'' [[Transantiago]]). The latter issue scaled into a major crisis <!--(fueled by an extensive and critical media coverage and an aggressive right-wing opposition)--> that damaged her popularity and which resulted in a second cabinet adjustment, just two weeks into her second year.
Bachelet's second year saw a dip in her popularity, reaching a nadir of 35% approval, 46% disapproval, in September, 2007. The cause behind this fall was mainly attributed to the Transantiago transport fiasco, put into motion in February that year. 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."<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.latercera.cl/medio/articulo/0,0,3255_5664_285592518,00.html
| title=Belisario Velasco afirma que Bachelet también conoció informe del Metro que advertía colapso del Transantiago
| work=[[La Tercera]]
| accessdate=2007-12-24
| date=[[July 30]] [[2007]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> That same month she had a disastrous public relations incident, when a group of earthquake victims she was visiting in the southern region of [[Aisén Region|Aisén]] received her with black flags and berated her publicly in front of television cameras, accusing her of arriving late and asking her to leave. More positively, in November, after months of discussions, Bachelet reached preliminary agreements with the opposition in the issue of education reform and in measures to tackle urban crime. On the economic side, while the year saw the lowest unemployment rates since 1998, and growth was forecast to be above 5% (better than 2006's disappointing 4%), inflation nearly doubled the Central Bank's upper target of 4% —due to a rise in food prices, the result of a harsh winter that cut harvests— and the [[Chilean peso|peso]] strengthened to an eight-year high against the [[US dollar]], hurting exporters.
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 enjoyed 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— Congress majority on a number of key government-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.<ref>{{cite web
| title=La Moneda fustigó el "obstruccionismo" de la derecha en 2006
| date=[[December 26]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2007-12-10
| url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/p4_noticias/site/artic/20061226/pags/20061226143055.html
| work=[[Radio Cooperativa]]
| language=Spanish
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://lanacion2007.altavoz.net/prontus_noticias_v2/site/artic/20071121/pags/20071121215812.html
| title=Gobierno quiere debate “pausado y sin presiones”
| work=[[La Nación (Chile)|La Nación]]
| date=[[November 22]] [[2007]]
| accessdate=2007-12-10
| language=Spanish
}}</ref> During the course of 2007, the government lost absolute majority in both chambers of Congress, as several senators and deputies from the CPD became independent.
===Foreign relations===
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet Néstor Kirchner7.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bachelet with former Argentine president [[Néstor Kirchner]].]]
During her first year in office, Bachelet faced continuing problems from neighbors [[Argentina]] and [[Peru]]. On July 2006, she sent a [[letter of protest]] to [[President of Argentina|Argentinean president]] [[Néstor Kirchner]], after his government issued a decree increasing export tariffs of [[natural gas]] to Chile, which was considered by Bachelet a violation of a tacit bilateral agreement. A month later a long-standing [[Territorial dispute|border dispute]] resurfaced after Argentina published some tourist maps featuring a contested territory in southern Chile —the [[Southern Patagonian Ice Field]] (''Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur'')— as Argentinean territory, violating an agreement not to draw a border over the area. In early 2007, Peru accused Chile of unilaterally redefining their shared sea boundary on a law, passed by Congress, which detailed the borders of the new administrative region of [[Arica and Parinacota Region|Arica y Parinacota]]. The impasse was resolved by the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal, which declared the particular section of the law unconstitutional. In March 2007, the Chilean state-owned —but editorially independent— television channel [[TVN]] cancelled the broadcast of a documentary about the [[War of the Pacific]], after a cautionary call was made to the stations' board of directors by Chilean Foreign Relations Minister [[Alejandro Foxley]], apparently acting on demands made by the Peruvian ambassador to Chile((this statement of the demand being made by the Peruvian Government is incorrect and should be removed if no citation is found; it should not be left for a long period of time).{{Fact|date=January 2008}} The show was finally broadcast in late May of that year. In August 2007, the Chilean government filed a formal diplomatic protest to Peru and summoned home its ambassador, after the neighboring country published an official map claiming a part of the [[Pacific Ocean]] that Chile considers its sovereign territory. Peru said this was just another step in its plans to bring the dispute to the [[International Court of Justice]] in [[The Hague]].
Chile's [[2006 United Nations Security Council election|October 16, 2006 vote in the United Nations Security Council election]] — with [[Venezuela]] and [[Guatemala]] deadlocked in a bid for the two-year, non-permanent Latin American and Caribbean seat on the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] — developed into a major ideological issue in the country and was seen as a test for Bachelet. The governing coalition was divided between the Socialists, who supported a vote for Venezuela, and the Christian Democrats, who strongly opposed it. Ending months of speculation, the president announced through her spokesman the day before the vote that Chile would abstain, citing as the reason a lack of regional consensus over a single candidate. On March 2007 Chile's ambassador to Venezuela, [[Claudio Huepe]], revealed in an interview with [[teleSUR]] that Bachelet personally told him that she initially wanted to vote for Venezuela, but then "there were a series of circumstances that forced me to abstain."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.chilevision.cl/ |title= Chilevisión Noticias Última Mirada |date= [[March 13]] [[2007]] |accessdate= 2007-03-13 |work= [[Chilevisión]] }}</ref> The government quickly recalled Huepe and accepted his resignation.
Continuing the coalition's free-trade strategy, in August 2006 Bachelet promulgated a [[free trade agreement]] with the [[People's Republic of China]] (signed under the previous administration of Ricardo Lagos), the first Chinese free-trade agreement with a Latin American nation; similar deals with Japan and India were promulgated in August 2007. In October 2006, Bachelet promulgated a multilateral trade deal with [[New Zealand]], [[Singapore]] and [[Brunei]], the [[Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership]] (P4), also signed under Lagos' presidency. She also held free-trade talks with other countries, such as [[Australia]], [[Vietnam]], [[Turkey]] and [[Malaysia]]. Regionally, she signed bilateral free trade agreements with [[Panama]], [[Peru]] and [[Colombia]].<br clear="all">
==Notes and references==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{wikinews|Chile elects first woman President}}
{{commons|Michelle Bachelet}}
{{wikisource author}}
*{{es icon}} [http://www.presidencia.gob.cl/ Presidencia de la República] official site ([http://www.presidencyofchile.cl/ English version])
*{{es icon}} [http://www.michellebachelet.cl Official presidential campaign site]
*{{es icon}} [http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/chile/michelle_bachelet_jeria Biography by CIDOB Foundation]
*[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/jan-june06/chile_1-25.html PBS Newshour - Interview transcript with video]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4087510.stm "The woman taking Chile's top job"] (BBC News)
* [http://www.economist.com/world/la/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5280773 "The unexpected travails of the woman who would be president"] (''[[The Economist]]'' - December 8, 2005)
* [http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5609367 "Bachelet's citizens' democracy"] (''[[The Economist]]'' - March 10, 2006)
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/international/americas/08letter.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "With a New Leader, Chile Seems to Shuck Its Strait Laces"] (''[[The New York Times]]'' - March 8, 2006)
* [http://www.coha.org/2006/06/07/welcome-madam-chilean-president-to-washington/ "Welcome Madam Chilean President to Washington"] —Council on Hemispheric Affairs
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{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Ministry of Health (Chile)|Minister of Health]]
| before = [[Alex Figueroa]]
| after = [[Osvaldo Artaza]]
| years = 2000 – 2002
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Ministry of National Defense (Chile)|Minister of National Defense]]
| before = [[Mario Fernández]]
| after = [[Jaime Ravinet]]
| years = 2002 – 2004
}}
{{Incumbent succession box
| title = [[President of Chile]]
| before = [[Ricardo Lagos]]
| start = 2006
}}
{{end box}}
{{Presidents of Chile}}
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{{Persondata
|NAME=Bachelet, Michelle
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Jeria, Verónica Michelle Bachelet
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[Chile]]an politician
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[September 29]] [[1951]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], [[Chile]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelet, Michelle}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
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[[Category:Female heads of government]]
[[Category:Chilean Ministers of Defense]]
[[Category:Chilean Ministers of Health]]
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[[Category:Military brats]]
[[Category:People from Santiago]]
[[Category:Presidents of Chile]]
[[Category:Chilean torture victims]]
[[Category:Chilean exiles]]
[[Category:Chileans of Greek descent]]
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