Michelle Bachelet Jeria, Presidenta de Chile

Chileans Watch for a Cultural Shift With Their First Female President
“…But cultural change is in the air in this South American capital. On Saturday, President-elect Michelle Bachelet will officially take office, becoming the first female head of state in what historically has been regarded as South America's most socially conservative country. A single mother, socialist and agnostic, she's the antithesis of the traditional Chilean middle-class housewife…”



Michelle’s journey
“…Michelle Bachelet is many things: socialist, agnostic, single mother, torture victim, former political exile and now Chile’s first woman president… And as dramatic as these might sound, it is her subtler, more elusive qualities that best explain what kind of leader she will be for Latin America’s most prosperous nation…”



Chile Set To Inaugurate First Female President
“…Bachelet’s inauguration marks a deep cultural change in this male-dominated, conservative society, where divorce was legalized less than two years ago, abortion remains illegal, and women often earn up to 40 percent less than men doing the same work…”

Chile headed for a new dawn
“…The new president inherits many advantages. Helped by the high world price of copper, which accounts for 45 per cent of exports, the economy is growing at 6 per cent a year. In winning the election in January, Bachelet was helped greatly by the popularity of Lagos, another socialist….”



Former exile Bachelet now Chile's leader
“…Michelle Bachelet, a single mother who was tortured under Chile's military dictatorship, was sworn in as the country's first female president on Saturday and promptly fulfilled a key campaign promise by naming women to half her Cabinet posts…”

Bachelet can build on Chile's progress
“…The inauguration of Michelle Bachelet as president of Chile tomorrow is an important event for the Americas. While not the first woman in the region to be elected head of state, Bachelet's rise to prominence was not influenced by marriage to a powerful man but rather by her own success, first as minister of health and then minister of defense…”



Bachelet inherits smooth-running country, but big gaps remain
“…Michelle Bachelet takes the helm of a well-functioning democracy whose economy is sailing crisply on the winds of free trade accords and China's hunger for copper. But what is hailed by some as the Chilean "miracle" also drags the ballast of eye-catching social inequity, the principal challenge facing the determined Socialist being inaugurated Saturday…”

Are Women Taking Over the World?
“…Coming from an ultra-conservative society where only 4 percent of senators are women, it would seem like a great feat that the 54-year-old Michelle Bachelet managed to convince Chileans to elect her their head of State. However, although Chile does not come across as the ideal place for a woman to rise to the top, Bachelet already had many factors working in her favour…”



Democratic women look to become catalysts for change
“…In a week marking the celebration of International Women's Day, the poll underscored some of the challenges and gains for women in politics… Pelosi, in a statement this week, noted that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia's new president -- the first woman to head an African state -- is "part of a new wave of women leaders'' who also include Michelle Bachelet, a single mother, pediatrician and socialist who was elected Chile's president…”

Women's Day 2006 Sees More Elected Female Leaders
“…Chile’s former defense minister Michelle Bachelet became her country’s president this year, while Tarja Halonen won a second term in Finland's highest political office. Portia Simpson-Miller, a former minister of local government, won the presidency of the ruling People's National Party and in April will take over the premiership from retiring P.J. Patterson in Jamaica…”