Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Chile gets first woman president
Centre-left candidate Michelle Bachelet has become Chile's first woman president, taking 53.5% of the poll with almost all the votes counted.
Her rival, conservative businessman Sebastian Pinera, has conceded defeat.
Giving a victory speech to cheering suporters, Ms Bachelet said: "Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago, that a woman would be elected president?"
Correspondents say Ms Bachelet's win consolidates a swing to the political left in Latin America.
The election is the fourth since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 after 17 years of military rule.
Outgoing President Ricardo Lagos hailed the election of Chile's first woman leader as a "historic triumph".
Pay homage
Mr Pinera, who had 46.5% of the vote with 97.5% counted, was also quick to congratulate Ms Bachelet.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4613864.stm
Giving a victory speech to cheering suporters, Ms Bachelet said: "Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago, that a woman would be elected president?"
Correspondents say Ms Bachelet's win consolidates a swing to the political left in Latin America.
The election is the fourth since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 after 17 years of military rule.
Outgoing President Ricardo Lagos hailed the election of Chile's first woman leader as a "historic triumph".
Pay homage
Mr Pinera, who had 46.5% of the vote with 97.5% counted, was also quick to congratulate Ms Bachelet.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4613864.stm
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$230.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network
The victory by the governing centre-left coalition on Sunday kept Chile in pace with a steady leftward trend in Latin America.
With 67% of some eight million votes counted, Bachelet had 53.2% of the official count to 46.7% of Sebastian Pinera, a multimillionaire businessman.
Pinera quickly congratulated Bachelet as "president-elect" and added: "I also wish Michelle the greatest possible success."
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3CB73B72-46D9-49CF-80B1-0BE19F3D1287.htm
A pediatrician turned politician, Michelle Bachelet is an atheist single mother with three children by two different partners - which makes her an odd choice in a macho and profoundly Catholic country.
She won the first round of voting on 11 December with 46 per cent, but was forced into a runoff because she failed to win an outright majority. Sebastian Piñera, candidate for the rightest alliance, was second with 25 per cent.
Her appointment as the country's first female defence minister, in 2002, was also unusual, as she is a former political exile and the daughter of an Air Force general who was tortured and died after opposing General Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'etat. But she was embraced by the Armed Forces, and is seen as having shone in that portfolio.
"Her leadership style is more emotional, informal and participatory," said supporter Paulette L'Huissier. "That's different for Chile, which is very macho. What's happening here is super important, culturally."
In a country where only one-third of women work, abortion is illegal, and divorce has only been legal for a year, Ms Bachelet appealed to women voters, promising more services for domestic abuse victims, free child care for poor working mothers, and a Cabinet with gender parity.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article338840.ece