Bachelet, Michelle (1951–)

Michelle Bachelet is the current (2006–2010) president of Chile and the first woman to fill this position. Prior to this, she was Chile's first female defense minister, in which position she personally embodied the democratic transition of the country where she had been a victim of its military regime.

A Socialist member of the center-left Concertación alliance, Bachelet was elected with 53.49% of the vote in a second-round runoff against José Piñera's center-right candidacy in January 2006; she took office in March 2006. Her first cabinet was notable for its equal division of posts by gender.

Bachelet's first 100 days as president were marked by large street protests by secondary school students demanding education reforms. In June 2006, the demonstrations ended after Bachelet made concessions; these included a presidential advisory panel and a review of the education system. During that first 100 days, she also began work on 36 measures, including legislation introducing automatic voter registration, reforming the electoral system, making the army a volunteer-based force, increasing educational spending, and ensuring pension entitlement for all people aged over 65.

Bachelet served as health minister (2000–2002) and defense minister (2002–2004) in the Concertación government under Ricardo Lagos. As health minister, she oversaw a national health care reform program and sought to improve health care quality and coverage. Her appointment as Chile's first female defense minister heralded efforts to enhance civil power over the military, make changes to the military service system, introduce equal opportunities for women, and comply with the Ottawa Convention by destroying land mine stockpiles.

Born in 1951, Bachelet studied medicine at the University of Chile and became a left-wing student leader. Her father, a general, was arrested for his involvement with the left-wing Allende government after the 1973 coup and tortured, which contributed to his death. Nevertheless, Bachelet continued to help those sought by the regime until her own arrest and imprisonment in the secret police center at Villa Grimaldi in January 1975. Released a month later, Bachelet went into exile, first to Australia and then to East Germany.

Bachelet returned to Chile in 1979 and worked as a pediatrician and for various pro-democracy groups. With the return of democracy in 1990, she worked for various national and international health organizations and for the Health Ministry. She became increasingly concerned about civil-military relations and undertook a course of study at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies, finishing first in her class. This granted her a presidential scholarship to complete her studies at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., in 1997. In 1998, she returned to Chile, where she was employed by the Defense Ministry.

Active in the Socialist Party, on its Central Committee, and as a key manager of Lagos's presidential campaign in 1999, Bachelet resigned as defense minister in October 2004. Bachelet initially faced a challenge from the Christian Democratic Party's Soledad Alvear for the Concertación nomination, but the latter dropped out of the race in May 2005.