January 15 marked the election of Chile’s first woman President, 54 year-old Michelle Bachelet, on the ticket of a Christian Democrat-Left coalition, the Concertación. Bachelet is a socialist and a former Minister of Health and Minister of Defense in the center-left Lagos administration. During the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet, Bachelet was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled. She is a pediatrician and a single mother of three. "I have not had an easy life," she told a cheering crowd after her victory.

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