World News

Chile elects first female president

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Socialist Michelle Bachelet defeated conservative multimillionaire Sebastian Pinera in elections Jan. 15 to become the first woman to be elected president in Chile.

Bachelet's path to Chile's presidency has taken her from a dictator's jail cell to forced exile in East Germany and back home as a respected defense minister.

Her rise to power has stunned many Chileans who thought a socialist single mother stood little chance in this conservative Catholic country where divorce is a touchy issue.

Bachelet won 53 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Pinera, according to official results.

The victory of the 54-year-old pediatrician, who was jailed and tortured during General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, has extended the rule of the market-friendly, center-left coalition that has governed since the end of Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.

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.

Shukan ST: Jan. 27, 2006

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