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Human Rights  » Dr. Michelle Bachelet likely Victor In Chile's Dec. 11

Dr. Michelle Bachelet likely Victor In Chile's Dec. 11

Article:

Brian McAfee brimac6@hotmail.com

Dr. Michelle Bachelet likely Victor In Chile's Dec. 11

Presidential Election.

Chile's Socialist party's presidential candidate, Dr Michelle

Bachelet, stands poised to be the next president of Chile. She

has a significant lead in the polls, and if there is a run-off

election she is expected to still be the victor. Her closest

opponent, Joaquin Lavin, a conservative, trails well behind her.

Dr Bachelet endured numerous personal tragedies in the years of

Pinochet's coup. Her father, Alberto Bachelet, an airforce

general loyal to president Salvador Allende, was tortured to

death in 1974 by DINA, Pinochet's secret police. In 1975 both

then 23 year old medical student, Michelle Bachelet, and her

mother, Angela Jeria, were kidnapped from their home by a gang

of DINA men. Both were tortured and deprived of food and water.

Because of intervention by some top military officials, the two

women escaped execution and were instead exiled to Australia

Under the junta. Many women and girls were raped, tortured, and

executed. Most of the perpetrators remain unpunished.

Bachelet and her mother spent almost 5 years in Australia, then

she returned to Chile to do clandestine human rights work. She

also became a medical doctor. Democracy was restored in Chile in

1988. As a politically active outspoken critic of the U.S.

supported facist dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Bachelet

became president Ricardo Lagos's choice to head the national

ministry of health. She served in this capacity from March of

2000 then in a stunning move, President Lagos appointed her

defense minister in 2002. As a former victim of military crimes,

this move signaled a complete overhaul of Chile's military

establishment. While she endorsed efforts to prosecute officers

for their crimes against the civilian population, she obtained

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and continues to have the respect of the majority of the

military and their families. There were over 3,000 murdered by

the junta during the Pinochet years, a national wound that has

not yet healed. "There was a group of Pinochet supporters who

thought when the wives of the disappeared died off, the problem

will die with it," Bachelet said, "But their children and

grandchildren have taken up the flag."

Despite the harsh realities of the past, the current president

Ricardo Lagos as well as his likely successor, Dr. Bachelet,

have their vision set firmly on the future, dealing with the

current complexities of the economy, social issues, and the

environment.

About the author:

Brian McAfee is a free-lance writer who lives in Muskegon

Heights, Michigan.