Michelle Bachelet

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Santiago, September 29, 1951) is a Chilean physician and politician. She was president of her country in two non-consecutive terms: between 2006-2010 and 2014-2018. She was also the first pro tempore president of Unasur, and the first head of UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality. Between 2018 and 2022, she served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and holds the honorary position of President of the Alliance for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health of the World Health Organization. Health.

Daughter of Alberto Bachelet, brigadier general of the Chilean Air Force and member of the Popular Unity government led by Salvador Allende, Michelle Bachelet studied medicine at the University of Chile, during which time she joined the ranks of the Socialist Party. After the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, her father was arrested by the military dictatorship, dying in prison, and Michelle together with her mother, Ángela Jeria, went into hiding. In 1975, both were arrested and tortured in Villa Grimaldi by the repressive organizations of the dictatorship, before going into political exile.

In 1979, he returned to the country and joined various movements against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. With the return of democracy, Bachelet developed a low-profile political career, which would change radically when she became Minister of Health during the government of Ricardo Lagos Escobar in 2000. In 2002, she became Minister of Defense, being the first woman in the country. and Latin America to occupy that position. In that position, Bachelet became a figure of great popularity, being later designated as the presidential candidate of the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia for the 2005 presidential elections, which she won on December 11. December of that year and on January 15, 2006 in the first and second rounds, respectively.

Bachelet's election as president of Chile marked one of the greatest milestones in the country's republican history as she was the first woman elected to the highest government position. Despite the high numbers of approval and popularity at the beginning of her term, at the end of what was called the "honeymoon", Bachelet had to face a series of various conflicts, among which the Penguin Revolution stands out. > —started less than two months after his government began— and the Transantiago crisis —the following year—, which generated strong divisions and crises in the government coalition as well as harsh criticism and reproach from the opposition. However, at the start of the second half of her term, the "social seal" of the remaining two years —which allowed for a major reform of the pension system— and the well-evaluated management of the world economic crisis of 2008, allowed Bachelet to rebound her popularity figures, reaching historical figures of support at the Latin American level; internationally, Bachelet was evaluated among the most powerful and influential women in the world. A few weeks after the end of her government, in February In 2010, it had to face an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 that struck the south-central zone of the country, which also produced a strong tsunami that impacted the Chilean coasts. Both destructive events left a balance of 525 people dead and 25 missing.

After her term, Bachelet took over as Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, in order to take charge and carry out the executive management of the recently created UN Women agency. However, the former president remained one of the leading figures policies that were better evaluated by the Chilean citizenry, which led to her return to the country in March 2013 to become a presidential candidate again. Elected in primaries as a candidate for the Nueva Mayoría pact — made up of the former Concertación and other parties of left—, Bachelet obtained a large majority of the votes in the 2013 presidential elections and was re-elected for a second term, which began on March 11, 2014 and ended on March 11, 2018. Subsequently, she was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose mandate began on September 1, 2018 and ended on August 31, 2022.

Early Years

Michelle Bachelet in her childhood, along with her parents and her older brother, on vacation in Chahuil.

Born in Ñuñoa, a commune in the eastern sector of Santiago, Verónica Michelle was the second daughter of the couple formed since 1945 by Air Brigade General Alberto Bachelet and archaeologist Ángela Jeria. Through her paternal family, Bachelet is descended from French immigrants after her great-great-grandfather, vintner Louis-Joseph Bachelet, arrived in Chile from Bordeaux after being hired by the Subercaseaux family. On her maternal side, Bachelet is the great-granddaughter of Máximo Jeria, the first agronomist engineer in the country. And on the paternal side she is the great-granddaughter of Germán Bachelet Beault, closely linked to the winegrowing business. The Bachelet Jeria family had a liberal, secular and progressive disposition, where the paternal figures were quite far from the prototype of the conservative Chilean society: General Bachelet, despite his macho military training, cooperated in the housework and his wife was an emancipated professional. General Bachelet, due to his military training, kept away from political contingencies, but he had strong ties with Freemasonry, being a member of the Grand Lodge of Chile.

Michelle Bachelet, during her adolescence, along with her father Alberto.

Due to her father's job, Michelle Bachelet spent her childhood in various units of the Chilean Air Force, including the Quintero, Cerro Moreno and El Bosque air bases. In 1962, her father was appointed by President Jorge Alessandri as military attaché to the Chilean embassy in Washington D.C., so the whole family moved to live in Bethesda, a suburb located in Maryland. During her two-year stay in the United States, Michelle Bachelet studied at the local school and learned to master the English language.

Upon returning, she completed her secondary studies at the Liceo n.º 1 de Niñas de Santiago. During those years, Bachelet carried out various sports and artistic activities, participating in her school choir, in her volleyball team and in the National Institute's Theater Academy, where she formed the "Aleph Group". Together with her friends and classmates, she formed a musical group known as "Las Clap Clap", which participated in various school music festivals. During her course, she served as delegate and president, before graduating as the best performing student in 1969.

University studies and exile

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile was Michelle Bachelet's study house from 1972 to 1975 and, after exile, from 1979 to 1982.

After graduating from secondary education, Bachelet took the Academic Aptitude Test, achieving one of the best scores nationwide, which allowed her to enter the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile in 1970, after having rejected other careers such as sociology or economics.

During that same period, at the beginning of the Popular Unity government led by Salvador Allende, Bachelet would get closer to the Socialist Youth influenced by the young deputy Carlos Lorca, who was also a leader of the same house of studies. Bachelet would soon begin to take an active role in university politics, while her father was appointed by Allende in 1972 as head of the Supply and Price Boards (JAP), for the distribution of basic necessities to the population as a result of the Lack of food and other basic products.

In 1973, the political and economic crisis in which the country found itself worsened and various members of the Armed Forces began to orchestrate a coup against the government of President Allende. Alberto Bachelet refused to participate and after the coup d'état of September 11, 1973, he was immediately detained by his peers in his office at the Ministry of National Defense on direct orders from Gustavo Leigh, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force.. He was convicted of "treason" and was confined in the Santiago Public Prison, where he suffered various forms of coercion and torture. On March 12, 1974, after a day of interrogations and torture, Alberto Bachelet suffered a myocardial infarction without receiving medical assistance from the officials of the compound and which finally caused his death.

Memorial to the victims of the repression of the dictatorship in Villa Grimaldi, where Bachelet was arrested and tortured in 1975.

Despite the death of her father, Michelle Bachelet continued her studies and supported the outlawed Socialist Party of Chile in order to help those politically persecuted by the military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet. After years of hiding, Bachelet and her mother were arrested on January 10, 1975 by the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), being transferred blindfolded to the detention center known as Villa Grimaldi, where they would be tortured and interrogated, and then be transferred to the Cuatro Álamos compound.

Thanks to the contacts they still had with certain military leaders, Ángela Jeria managed to obtain permission for her daughter to go into exile. Her first destination was Australia, where Alberto, Michelle's brother, had lived since 1969, but then Michelle Bachelet moved to the German Democratic Republic to continue her medical studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Bachelet arrived in East Germany in May 1975 and settled in the Am Stern neighborhood in the city of Potsdam, where she was settled thanks to the efforts of the socialist government of Erich Honecker and where she began to learn the German language. Before finally entering university classrooms, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany allowed him to do some care work in medical offices in Potsdam and he migrated to Leipzig for seven months in 1978 to perfect his language at the Herder Institut attached to the Karl Marx University.

In that country she met Jorge Dávalos Cartes, also an exile and member of the Central Committee of the PS, and whom she married in 1977. Dávalos, who arrived in the GDR in 1974, was an architect by profession -although without a diploma-, and he was also a member of the Socialist Party, which, according to the Stasi, would have sponsored him in 1968 to do training in handling pistols and explosives. The couple's first child, Sebastián Dávalos, was born during his stay in Leipzig in 1978. On September 1 of the same year, Bachelet (under the name "Verónica Michelle Dávalos") finally entered the Humboldt University. A new apartment in Potsdam was given to the Dávalos family by the government, while Ángela Jeria left for Washington D.C. after working for a few years at the Potsdam Prehistoric Museum. Although she had planned a stay until 1984, the year in which she would graduate from the University, her stay was limited to five months after obtaining permission to return to the country.

Return to Chile

In February 1979, the Dávalos family returned to Chile and resided in the commune of La Florida. Bachelet resumed her studies at the University of Chile, graduating as a surgeon in January 1983. In 1984 his second daughter was born while his marriage entered a crisis that would lead to his term that same year.

After graduating, Bachelet applied for a position as area general practitioner within the public health system, but was rejected, according to her, for "political reasons." However, the Chilean Medical Association awarded her a scholarship to specialize in pediatrics and public health at the Roberto del Río Hospital, a specialty in which she did not graduate because she did not take the final exam. At the same time, Bachelet joined the work of the NGO PIDEE dedicated to the protection of minors, being in charge of the medical section of the organization.

In 1985, Bachelet takes care of the medical area of the NGO Child Protection Damaged by the States of Emergency (PIDEE). The photograph corresponds to a dinner in his honor organized by PIDEE, after his appointment as Minister of Health, in 2000.

In these years, Bachelet was far from politics, despite her closeness to various militants in opposition to the military dictatorship. In East Germany, Bachelet had declined to participate in socialist political formation groups and she privileged her studies on the recommendation of her husband. When in 1978 the Socialist Party in exile fractured between the renewed currents of Carlos Altamirano and the hard one of Clodomiro Almeyda, she Bachelet preferred the latter, which postulated a confrontational struggle against the Pinochet dictatorship. Despite this choice, Bachelet remained cautious, somewhat disappointed in the leadership's inability to reach agreements and critical of some actions. Upon returning to Chile, Bachelet kept her low profile, abandoning her participation in political activities and was an unknown figure within the ranks of the PS.

Despite this distancing from partisan politics, Bachelet participated in protests against Pinochet's military dictatorship, was close to the Vicaría de la Solidaridad—where her mother, Ángela Jeria, was active—and began to forge new political relationships in her stay in the PIDEE, especially with various members of the Communist Party. Between 1985 and 1987, Bachelet had a sentimental relationship with Álex Vojkovic, who would act at that time as spokesman for the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front (FPMR), a revolutionary group opposed to the Pinochet regime and who would even carry out an attack against him. Based on this link, it has been indicated that Bachelet would have collaborated with the FPMR, although her level of participation would have been basic, intervening in some discussions with its members, however, it has also been indicated that she could have carried out analysis tasks. of the armed operations that the Front carried out, and that served its leadership to plan new actions, discussing and systematizing the work of the national leadership of the FPMR; In any case, it has always been made clear that she did not participate or get directly involved in the Front's armed actions, and she has categorically denied having collaborated with the FPMR.

In 1987, the repression of the dictatorship began to diminish, allowing the legalization of the first political parties openly opposed to the Regime. Within the opposition a strong discrepancy arose between accepting or rejecting the 1980 Constitution promulgated by Pinochet and that could finally allow the end of the dictatorship. Bachelet, attached at that time to the Popular Democratic Movement and the Broad Party of the Socialist Left, followed the current led by Camilo Escalona in favor of boycotting the holding of the 1988 National Plebiscite, which they considered would be electoral fraud and the way Pinochet would have of legitimize his government. Despite this, Bachelet was eventually registered on the electoral rolls and voted "No", like the 56% of the voters who would force General Pinochet to step down from command of the nation in 1990.

With the victory of Patricio Aylwin in the 1989 presidential election, the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia assumed the government of the country, on March 11, 1990, beginning the transition period to democracy. Bachelet was finally incorporated into the public health system, being hired as an epidemiologist at the Western Metropolitan Health Service and later at the National AIDS Commission (CONASIDA). Along with her work in these government organizations, Bachelet consulted for the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

At that time, Bachelet met the epidemiologist Aníbal Henríquez with whom she worked at CONASIDA. Both began a stable sentimental relationship for three years and from which their youngest daughter was born in 1992. Since the marriage with Dávalos was not annulled in Chile, the couple did not marry and would finally succumb after three years of relationship. Bachelet, together with her friends Estela Ortiz and Sonia Viveros, bought a plot of land in Lago Caburgua as a resting place in 1994. Professionally, Bachelet would be incorporated as an advisor to the Ministry of Health during the government of Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle between 1994 and 1997.

Political career

Bachelet's photograph for the campaign of the 1996 municipal elections, where he presented himself as a candidate for the council of Las Condes.

Michelle Bachelet together with President Ricardo Lagos Escobar at the 2002 Military Stop.

Michelle Bachelet as Minister of Defense on an official trip to the United States in October 2002.

In the mid-1990s, Bachelet's career, focused mainly on the technical world of health, began to turn towards partisan politics and Defense. In 1996, she was elected as part of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party of Chile (reunified a few years before) during the XXV Congress of the collectivity. That same year, during the municipal elections, Bachelet ran as a candidate in Las Condes, an upper-class commune located in the eastern part of Santiago de Chile and considered an electoral stronghold of the right. In her first electoral participation, Bachelet obtained 2,622 votes, equivalent to 2.35% of the total, which did not even allow her to be elected councilor; On the other hand, Joaquín Lavín, a member of the Independent Democratic Union, obtained 77.76% of the total, being re-elected mayor with the first national majority.

After her defeat, Bachelet took a diploma course on military strategy at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE) —attended by twelve students: six officers from the Armed Forces and Order and Security, and six civilians—, where due to his good performance —he obtained first place in the promotion—, and thanks to the sponsorship of the President of the Republic Scholarship, in 1997 he continued a higher course on continental defense at the Inter-American Defense College, located in Washington D. C., USA. Upon her return in 1998, Bachelet worked for a year as an adviser to the Ministry of National Defense.

That same year, she was re-elected to the Central Committee of the PS and joined the Political Committee of the community. In May 1999, Bachelet joined the campaign of the presidential pre-candidate of the PS-PPD bloc Ricardo Lagos Escobar in the Concertación primaries against the Christian Democrat Andrés Zaldívar. After Laguista's resounding victory, Bachelet continued in the campaign for the presidential elections. After a narrow result in the first election, Lagos finally obtained the victory against Joaquín Lavín during the second round held on January 11, 2000.

Minister of Health

On March 11 of the same year, Ricardo Lagos became president of Chile together with his cabinet. Michelle Bachelet assumed that day as Minister of Health (becoming the first woman in charge of that ministry), her first position of national relevance and which forced her to resign from her position in the Socialist Political Committee. As part of the presidential campaign promises, Lagos entrusted Bachelet with the task of ending the so-called queues (waiting lines) of the saturated public clinics in less than three months. Despite the initial skepticism and the short deadlines, around the month of July the level of queues was reduced by 90% thanks to the centralized assignment of consultations by telephone and the extended hours of priority services. Because the goal of eliminating the queues was not met, Bachelet left her position at the disposal of President Lagos, who, on the contrary, would confirm her.

Once this task was accomplished, Bachelet took on an even more complex one: starting the creation of a structural reform of the public health system that would allow universal and equal access to it. Among the reforms that were proposed by the Bachelet administration (and that would be developed by her successor, Osvaldo Artaza) is the establishment of a system of universal access to the most common pathologies, the elaboration of the bill on the rights and duties of people, improvement of disease treatment programs and the extension of health insurance.

During her tenure, Bachelet had to face opposition from various conservative groups and the Catholic Church, especially after the ministry approved the sale of the morning-after pill and its free distribution to victims of sexual abuse in public offices. Considered by his opponents as an abortifacient, a lawsuit was filed before the Supreme Court of Chile, which ruled in 2001 to prohibit the distribution of the drug.

Minister of National Defense

Bachelet checking troops with the U.S. Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

Bachelet at a meeting with the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Donald Rumsfeld.

On January 7, 2002, Ricardo Lagos made a cabinet change, in which Bachelet moved from the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of National Defense, replacing the Christian Democrat Mario Fernández. Bachelet's arrival at that body, although it was not a great surprise for those who understood the minister's professional career, set a historical precedent. Michelle Bachelet was the first Socialist to assume that portfolio in 29 years, since Orlando Letelier was deposed after the coup, and the first Minister of Defense tortured by orders of the same Armed Forces that were in charge of her. In addition, Michelle Bachelet became the first woman in charge of a Ministry of Defense, not only at the national level, but also at the Latin American level, and one of the few at the world level.

Despite these conditions, Bachelet did not face problems with the hierarchies of the Armed Forces; On the contrary, his closeness to the "military family" allowed him to generate unique instances of rapprochement between the Armed Forces and the victims of repression during the dictatorship, especially during the 30th anniversary of the coup. Thus, for example, the Chilean Air Force carried out commemorative activities in the former Dawson Island concentration camp together with some detainees at that time, and in the Quintero naval base where the figure of the minister's father was vindicated, added to the "never again" pronounced by Juan Emilio Cheyre, Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army, considered an act of public forgiveness by the Armed Forces to the civilian world.

During her tenure at the Ministry of National Defense, Bachelet continued with the plans to modernize the Armed Forces, increased their participation in peace missions such as those in Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and expanded the possibilities for women to enter to the military career, generated important modifications to the compulsory military service and put into practice the provisions of the Ottawa treaty for the destruction of mine fields.

Although she had managed to make herself known to the public during her tenure as Health Minister, Bachelet's popularity took off during her tenure as Defense Minister. Bachelet's relaxed personality, her willingness to generate agreements from her and her position away from her traditional political establishment began to quickly raise her image despite the coldness and complexity traditionally associated with to her ministry. One of the key moments in this ascent was during the winter of 2002, when serious floods struck various communes of Greater Santiago after heavy rains, for which reason Armed Forces personnel were deployed to help the victims; Bachelet went out to command her activities and the image of her on board a tank crossing the streets covered with water and giving orders to her subordinates remained in the retina of the citizenry.

The so-called “Bachelet phenomenon” began to grow over the months. In a Joan Manuel Serrat concert, Bachelet's entrance was cheered more than that of the singer herself and of President Lagos., was one of the favorites for the following presidential election, surpassing even the right-wing Joaquín Lavín and the Christian Democrat standard-bearer Soledad Alvear. In 2003, she received an award from the Women's Federation for World Peace.

First presidential candidacy

Bachelet participates in a televised debate with Soledad Alvear, both presidential precandidates of the Concertación.

Michelle Bachelet in a TV debate on Channel 13 and CNN in Spanish.

Michelle Bachelet in a campaign event with former presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei.

In a surprise move, on September 29, 2004, the Lagos government announced the departure of Bachelet's cabinet and Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear in a move that was interpreted as a way of supporting the Concertación in the campaign to the municipal elections and at the same time allow both figures to dedicate themselves fully to the preparation of the presidential campaigns of the following year. The popular support for the ruling coalition in these elections (more than 10% above its main opponents) after the narrow victories in the 2000 presidential elections and the 2001 parliamentary ones broke the general idea that the 2005 presidential elections were decided in favor of the candidate of the Alliance for Chile, Joaquín Lavín, and served as a boost to the campaigns of the pre-candidates Alvear and Bachelet.

With the passing of the months, Alvear and Bachelet positioned themselves as the most serious candidates of the Concertación, but the ratification process for both would be very different. Alvear suffered various problems within her party that delayed her confirmation as the pre-candidate of the Christian Democratic Party, while the parties of the progressive wing of the Concertación quickly proclaimed Bachelet: the PPD did so on November 14, 2004, while the Socialist Party did so during its XXVII Congress, held between January 28 and 30, 2005. The Radical Social Democratic Party finally decided to support Bachelet's candidacy on April 23, after evaluating raising some of its own pre-candidacy.

Once both ex-ministers were confirmed as the pre-candidates within the center-left coalition, it was decided to hold an open primary election at the national level on July 31, 2005, just as it had been done in 1999 to define the candidacy of the coalition. Alvear and Bachelet carried out their campaigns and faced each other in a televised debate in Hualpén, on April 27 of that same year. The debate was held in a moderate tone and without major controversy, where Bachelet clarified her relationship with Álex Vojkovic during the 1980s and her supposed closeness to former terrorist groups, information that had been released to public opinion during those days. According to various surveys, Bachelet was considered the winner of the debate for citizenship, surpassing Alvear in most of the topics discussed and in various concepts, especially those related to closeness and identification.

Concertación candidate

Michelle Bachelet's Propaganda for the 2005 campaign. In the image, next to a child, and his campaign slogan “I am with you”.

With the passing of the weeks, the polls continued to consolidate the advantage of Bachelet over Alvear in the preferences of the Concertación sympathizers. By April 2005, Bachelet had over 60% against Alvear's 26% in the preferences of citizens who expressed the intention of voting in the official primaries, which reached a total of 52%. Although both Bachelet and Alvear easily surpassed Lavín, the numbers of the socialist pre-candidate were broader, reaching a vote intention of close to 49%.

Despite the disadvantage, Alvear maintained his candidacy for several months until in May 2005, the situation would change when Sebastián Piñera announced his candidacy for the presidency representing Renovación Nacional. Despite the fact that Piñera's candidacy was in direct competition with that of Lavín for the leadership of the Alianza por Chile, the latter managed to remove the support of Alvear's centrist electorate. Faced with this situation, and falling even more in the polls, the Christian Democrat candidate decided to lower her candidacy on May 24, 2005, confirming Bachelet as the sole candidate of the Concertación for La Moneda.

Michelle Bachelet in a "door door" with Andrés Zaldívar, at that time his campaign manager.

With the presidential race in full swing (which was joined by Tomás Hirsch representing the extra-parliamentary left), polls confirmed Bachelet's favoritism, but cast doubt on her ability to win in December 2005 and thus avoid the ballot; Thus, the main objective of both Lavín and Piñera was to qualify for the second round and then face Bachelet. Bachelet's presidential campaign tried to exploit closeness, one of the attributes most recognized by citizens (which was reflected in the campaign slogan, "I am with you"), and a mix between the continuity of the government of Ricardo Lagos, whose popularity figures were over 60% approval, and the idea of a shift towards “citizen government”. His government plan was framed around three axes, which corresponded to an improvement in the social protection system, economic development and democratization of the political system. In the first axis, Bachelet proposed a reform to the social security system, promotion of preschool education, guaranteed financing for higher education students, reforms to the working day, increase of the AUGE Plan to 80 pathologies by 2010, the strengthening of the public health system and the creation of a Ministry of Citizen Security. In addition, Bachelet assumed as one of her main objectives the reduction in the unequal distribution of income, where Chile maintains one of the worst indices worldwide. Regarding the second pillar, the government plan maintained the policy of a structural surplus of 1% of GDP, while proposing an increase in fiscal spending, promotion of SMEs, creation of a Ministry of the Environment and development of tourism, mining and agriculture. Finally, in the third axis, it was proposed to establish electoral registration voluntarily and automatically, reform the electoral system (thus eliminating the binomial system) and the financing system of political parties, support anti-discrimination bills and promote equality. of gender and the rights of homosexuals (although ruling out marriage).

Election Results

Bachelet holds his vote in the first round of the 2005 presidential elections.

Bachelet, accompanied by her daughter Sofia, after casting her vote on the second presidential round of 2006.

On election day, December 11, 2005, he obtained the first majority with 45.95% of the votes compared to 25.41% of his closest rival for the presidency, Sebastián Piñera, with whom he competed in a second round on January 15, 2006. On that day, she obtained 53.5% of the total votes against 46.5% for Sebastián Piñera, becoming the first female president of Chile in its 196 years of independence. At the same time, she became the sixth female head of state in the history of Latin America, after the Nicaraguan Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, the Argentine María Estela Martínez de Perón, the Bolivian Lidia Gueiler Tejada, the Ecuadorian Rosalía Arteaga and the Panamanian Mireya. Moscoso and the second democratically elected in South America after Guyanese Janet Jagan.

President Ricardo Lagos publicly expressed his pride in the triumph of Michelle Bachelet, highlighting the role of the new president as the first female president of Chile. At the same time, she received congratulations from important members of national and international politics.

«(...) Who would have thought of it, friends and friends? (...) Who would have thought, twenty, ten or five years ago, that Chile would choose a woman as president? It seemed difficult, but it was possible. It is possible, because the citizens wanted it, because democracy allowed it. Thanks, friends and friends. Thank you, Chile. Thanks for the vote of millions of you. (...) My commitment as president of Chile will be to go, together with you, a further section of this great alameda of freedom that we have been opening.»

Michelle Bachelet Jeria in her speech following the delivery of results, January 15, 2006

On January 30, 2006, she was officially proclaimed by the Electoral Qualifying Tribunal as president-elect. "joint cabinet" (equal number of men and women). In the days that followed, the list of undersecretaries and mayors met the same characteristic of "gender parity."

• Articles in Wikinoticias: Michelle Bachelet is the new president of Chile

First government

Official portrait of Michelle Bachelet as President of the Republic in 2006.

The first government of Michelle Bachelet took place between March 2006 and March 2010. Being the first woman to hold the first magistracy of Chile.

Second presidential candidacy

Bachelet announcing his second presidential candidacy on March 27, 2013.

Return to Chile and announcement of his candidacy

Since her departure from government, Bachelet has become the political figure with the best chance of winning in Chile's 2013 presidential election, according to numerous polls. However, during the first three years of Sebastián Piñera's government, Bachelet declined to pronounce on a possible candidacy, so in December 2012 he suspended any definition in this regard until March 2013.

Along with resigning from UN Women, on March 15, 2013, she announced her return to Chile, which took place on the 27th of that same month, being received by adherents at the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport in Santiago. That night, in a citizen event in the commune of El Bosque, officially announced her candidacy. She was supported by the Socialist Party (PS), the Party for Democracy (PPD), the Broad Social Movement (MAS), the Communist Party (PCCh) and the Izquierda Ciudadana (IC) in the presidential primary of the Nueva Mayoría pact, heir to the Concertación.

Michelle Bachelet launched a campaign focused on citizens, showing the faces of people who mentioned her government program through videos and social networks, also taking advantage of the charisma and closeness that are considered her main attributes. Together with the slogan "I I want Chile”, Bachelet stated on various occasions that she had not sought his candidacy, but had responded to the call of the public. His campaign focused on mentioning his proposals for a new constitution, a system of free higher education, and a tax reform to finance it, without going into details that could rub his broad base of support. Also, his campaign called for the support of those who participated in the various demonstrations against the government of Sebastián Piñera (especially the student mobilization of 2011) to turn their demands into reality.

New Majority candidate

Michelle Bachelet together with student leaders, including some protagonists of the 2011 mobilizations such as Camilo Ballesteros and Camila Vallejo.

On June 30, 2013, she became the candidate of the New Majority, after obtaining a million and a half votes in the primary of her pact, that is, more than 70% of the preferences. the support of the Christian Democratic (PDC) and Social Democratic Radical (PRSD) parties. She also received the support of the Fuerza del Norte party, which is not a member of the New Majority.

On October 7, 2013, Bachelet presented a document with 50 measures that would be carried out in the first hundred days of her eventual government. On October 27, she presented the government plan for her candidacy, which It includes as axes granting free education at all levels within a period of six years and ending profits in education, changing the binomial electoral system, implementing a tax reform and drafting a new Constitution, among others.

Results and subsequent events

Despite the fact that during the campaign, Bachelet's candidacy appealed for a victory in the first round, in the November 17 election the Nueva Mayoría candidate obtained 46.67% of the votes, therefore who did not reach an absolute majority, having to go to the ballot with the flag bearer of the Alliance, Evelyn Matthei, an election that was held on December 15. In said election, Bachelet obtained 62.16% of the votes, prevailing over Matthei and being re-elected President of the Republic for the period 2014-2018, also becoming the first woman in the history of Chile to be re-elected.

On January 10, 2014, she was officially proclaimed president-elect, by the Elections Qualifying Tribunal, for the 2014-2018 constitutional period.

Bachelet in the presentation of his first cabinet, January 24, 2014.

After the election and its corresponding proclamation, on January 24, 2014, Bachelet announced the composition of what would be her first ministerial cabinet. Days later, on January 31, she announced the future appointment of Sergio Granados as Director of Budgets, who had previously performed the same functions in his first term. On February 4, Claudia Peirano resigned from the position of Undersecretary of Education, and her replacement was announced by Valentina Quiroga. On February 24, she reported that she would name Director of Communications to Paula Walker.

Almost a month after being announced, two resignations were presented to assume the position of undersecretary (Hugo Lara to the position of undersecretary of Agriculture, and Miguel Moreno of National Assets), being nominated in their place Jorge Maldonado Contreras and Claudio Ternicier González, respectively. A few days later, it was announced that Paula Narváez would be Bachelet's chief of staff. A few days after assuming the presidency, on March 8, Carolina Echevarria resigned as undersecretary of the Armed Forces. and that same day Gabriel Gaspar was appointed in his place.Finally, hours after assuming his mandate, Bachelet announced the list of future provincial governors.

Second government

Official photograph of President Michelle Bachelet during her second government

Michelle Bachelet assumed her second presidential term on March 11, 2014, at the change of command ceremony held at the National Congress, where the presidential sash was handed over to her by Isabel Allende, daughter of Salvador Allende.

Post-presidency public activity

Public activity after his first government (2010-2013)

Bachelet as UN Women Director in February 2012.

On May 17, 2010, she was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, for «her work in the defense of human rights in the exercise of the highest political authority of Chile, and for having promoted policies of historical reparation and reconciliation and improvement of the levels of social justice, with special attention to the female population".

On April 16, 2010, Bachelet created the "Fundación Dialoga", a non-profit organization whose objective is to contribute ideas, reflections, dialogue and concrete actions to Chile, all of them from the principles of the center left. Bachelet took over as Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors He is a member of the Club of Madrid.

UN Women

On September 14, 2010, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki Moon, appointed her as executive director of the newly created agency concerned with the defense of women, UN Women (UN Women, or United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), assuming in that capacity as Deputy Secretary of the United Nations. UN Women, the agreement on "Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls" was approved, the result of the 57th period of sessions of the Commission on the Legal and Social Condition of Women.

On March 15, 2013, she announced her resignation from UN Women to return to her country.

Public activity after his second government (since 2018)

In January 2018, while still serving as president of Chile, Bachelet agreed to assume the presidency of the Alliance for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (ASMRN), under the World Health Organization (WHO), after the end of his term. On March 11, he handed over the presidential sash for the second time to Sebastián Piñera. She succeeded Graça Machel as president of the ASMRN on May 20 of that year.In August 2018, Bachelet launched the Horizonte Ciudadano Foundation.

High Commissioner for Human Rights

As a High Commissioner, he visited Venezuela in 2019 stating that “there are cases of torture” and “judicial executions” in Venezuela.

On August 8, 2018, she was nominated by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Two days later, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously confirmed the nomination. He assumed said position on September 1, replacing the Jordanian prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. He would officially assume the UN on September 5, in a ceremony that took place at the United Nations Organization (UN), together with the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. She being the seventh person to assume the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights, which has a period of four years.

On September 3, 2018, Michelle Bachelet demanded the immediate release of two Reuters journalists sentenced in Myanmar (former Burma) to seven years in prison for having investigated a massacre of the Rohingya Muslim minority perpetrated by the Burmese army in 2017, this being her first act as United Nations High Commissioner. On September 7, she congratulated the decision of the Supreme Court of India, for decriminalizing homosexuality, which criminalized relationships between people of the same sex with prison terms, declaring "This is a fantastic day for India and for all those who believe in the universality of human rights," in a statement. Two days later he strongly condemned the 75 death sentences imposed on Saturday 8 September, by an Egyptian court to some dissidents from 739 courts, for the violent incidents that occurred during the 2013 dismantling of the encampments in Cairo against the overthrow of then-President Mohamed Mursi. On September 10, after inaugurating a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, he criticized Italy for preventing the entry into the country of NGO rescue ships with immigrants on board.

On her last day as High Commissioner, a report came out on the abuses against the Uighur ethnic group in China, where she recognized that Beinjing's actions in the Xiangiang region, where members of this Muslim minority live, "may constitute crimes of against humanity”, in addition to restrictions on fundamental rights for members of this and other Muslim ethnic groups in this area of the country. Bachelet officially left office as High Commissioner on August 31, 2022.

Distinctions and decorations

I listen as a lady of the Order of Charles III.

National Awards

• Grand Master of the Order of Bernard O'Higgins (ChileChile, 2006-2010 2014-2018).
• Grand Master of the Order to Merit of Chile (ChileChile, 2006-2010 2014-2018).
• Archive:Gran Cruz al Mérito Aeronáutico de Chile.png Gran Canciller Honorario de la Cruz al Mérito Aeronáutico de Chile (ChileChile, 2006-2010 2014-2018).

Foreign Awards

• Medal of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay (Uruguay, 15 March 2006).
• Big necklace of the Order of Freedom (Venezuela Venezuela, 2007).
• Necklace of the Order of Aztec Eagle (Mexico Mexico, 2007).
• Big Cross with Order Necklace of the White Rose (FinlandFinland, 2007).
• Great Necklace of the Order of Freedom (Portugal, 2007).
• Grand necklace of the Order of Infante Don Enrique (Portugal, 2007).
• Great Cross of the Order of Christ (Portugal, 2007).
• Grand Cross adorned with the Grand Cord of the Order to the Merit of the Italian Republic (ItalyItaly, 2007).
• Grand Necklace of the Order of Vitautas the Great (LithuaniaLithuania, 2008).
• Lady of the Order of the Crown of the Kingdom (MalaysiaMalaysia, 2009).
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion (NetherlandsNetherlands, 2009).
• Necklace of the Order of San Martín (Argentina, 2010).
• Gran Collar de la Orden Nacional de San Lorenzo (EcuadorEcuador, 2010).
• Necklace of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (SpainSpain, 2010).
• Companion of the Order of Australia (Australia, 2012).
• Necklace of the Order of Charles III (SpainSpain, 2014).
• Lady of the Order of Seraphim (Sweden Sweden, 2016).

Doctor honoris causa

• University of Brasilia BrazilBrazil (2006)
• Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala GuatemalaGuatemala (2007)
• University of Essex United KingdomUnited Kingdom (2008)
• Pompeu Fabra University SpainSpain (2010)
• Universidad Nacional de Córdoba Argentina (2010)
• Catholic University of Córdoba Argentina (2010)
• International Menéndez Pelayo University SpainSpain (2010)
• Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo Dominican RepublicDominican Republic (2010)
• Sorbonne University New - Paris 3 France (2010)
• Columbia University United States (2012)
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven BelgiumBelgium (2015)
• University of Evora Portugal (2017)

Other awards and recognitions

• 17.th most powerful woman in the world according to Forbes (2006) (it was 22.° in 2009, 25.° in 2008 and 27.° in 2007)
• Award for the Defense of Democracy and Freedom by the Ramón Rubial Foundation (2007)
• 15. The most influential person in the world according to Time (2008)
• Shalom Prize for the World Jewish Congress (2008)
• Maximum Leadership Award (Argentina, 2008)
• Vital Voices Global Pioneer Award (2008)
• Order Honor to the Merit of the South American Football in its degree of Great Necklace by CONMEBOL (2009), being the first woman to receive such recognition.
• Keys of the city of Lisbon (2009)
• Bicentennial Women's Award for Chilectra (2010)
• International Award of the Federation of Progressive Women (Spain, 2010)
• Keys of the City of Miami (2010)
• Award for Leadership in Global Trade de The Association of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce (United States, 2010)
• Human Rights Award of the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (2010)
• Newsmaker of the Decade Award of Women's eNews (2011)
• Condecoración Generala Juana Azurduy del Ministerio de Defensa de Argentina (2012)
• Medal to the Leadership and Service of Eisenhower Fellowships (2012)
• One of the 10 most influential Ibero-American intellectuals Foreign Policy (2012)
• United Nations Environment Programme ' s Global Champions Award (2017)
• Progressive Alliance Award (2018)
• NatGeo Planetary Leadership Award (2018)
• Hillary Clinton Award (2019). The Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards are delivered by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

Posts

• "Comparative studies and the civil-military relationship. Reflections after a decade of democratic consolidation in Chile" (2002). Revista Fuerzas Armadas y Sociedad, 17(4): 29-35.

Electoral history

Municipal elections of 1996

• 1996 municipal elections, Las Condes
  (Only candidates are considered with over 1 % of votes and candidates elected as councillors, of a total of 22 candidates)

2005 Presidential Election

• 2005 and 2006 presidential elections, first round

Candidate			Party		Coalition Political support		Votes	%
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria		PS		Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia	3 190 691	45.96 %
		Sebastián Piñera Echenique		RN		Partnership	1 763 694	25.41 %
		Joaquín Lavín Infante		UDI		Partnership	1 612 608	23,23 %
		Tomás Hirsch Goldschmidt		PH		Together We Can More	375 048	5.4 %
Total valid votes							6 942 041	96.32 %
Null vote							180 485	2.5 %
White votes							84 752	1.18 %
Total votes cast							7 207 278	100%
Total registered							8 285 186	Abstaining: 12,33 %

Source: 2005 Presidential Election - Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile

• Presidential elections of Chile 2005-2006, second round

Candidate			Party		Coalition Political support		Votes	%
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria		PS		Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia	3 723 019	53.5 %
		Sebastián Piñera Echenique		RN		Partnership	3 236 394	46.5 %
Total valid votes							6 959 413	97.17 %
Null vote							154 972	2.16 %
White votes							47 960	0.67 %
Total votes cast							7 162 345	100%
Total registered							8 220 897	Abstaining: 12.88 %

Source: Presidential Election 2005 - Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile Archived 2013-12-18 at the Wayback Machine.

2013 New Majority presidential primaries

• 2013 presidential primary elections

N.o?		Party		Candidate		Political support	Votes	%
	A1		PS		Michelle Bachelet Jeria	PS-PPD-MAS-PCCh-IC	1 563 208	73.06 %
	A2		PRSD		José Antonio Gómez Urrutia	Social Democratic Radical Party	108 319	5.06 %
	A3		PDC		Claudio Orrego Larraín	Christian Democratic Party	189 550	8.85 %
	A4		Ind		Andrés Velasco Brañes	Independent	278 385	13.01 %
Total votes pact New Majority							2 139 472	72.62 %
Total primary valid votes							2 946 128	97.94 %
Null vote							46 071	1.53%
White votes							15 888	0.52%
Total votes cast							3 008 087	100%

Consider 13 536 scrutinized tables of a national total of 13 541 (SERVEL).

2013 Presidential Election

• Presidential elections of 2013, for the Presidency of the Republic, first round.

Candidate			Party		Coalition/Partner		Votes	%
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria		PS		New Majority	3 070 012	46.67 %
		Evelyn Matthei Fornet		UDI		Partnership	1 645 271	25,01 %
		Marco Enríquez-Ominami Gumucio		PRO		If you want, Chile changes	722 270	10.98 %
		Franco Parisi Fernández		Ind		Independent	665 414	10.11 %
		Marcel Claude Reyes		PH		All to the Coin	184 906	2.81 %
		Alfredo Sfeir Younis		ECOV		Green Ecologist Party Northern Green Ecologist Party	154 593	2.35 %
		Roxana Miranda Meneses		IGUAL		Equality	83 687	1.27 %
		Ricardo Israel Zipper		PRI		Regionalist Party of Independents	37(+34) 965	.57 %
		Tomás Jocelyn-Holt Letelier		Ind		Independent	12 830	0.19 %
Total valid votes							6 576 948	98.28 %
Null vote							67 555	%
White votes							47 337	0.7 %
Total votes cast							6 691 840	99.93 % of 41 349 tables
Total registered							13 573 088	Abstaining: 50.7 %

Considers 41 321 scrutiny tables (99.93 %) of a national total of 41 349 (SERVEL).

• Presidential elections of 2013, for the Presidency of the Republic, second round.

Candidate			Party		Coalition/Partner		Votes	%
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria		PS		New Majority	3 468 389	62.16 %
		Evelyn Matthei Fornet		UDI		Partnership	2 111 306	37.38 %
Total valid votes							5 579 695	97.96 %
Null vote							83 231	1.46 %
White votes							32 838	.57 %
Total votes cast							5 695 764	100%
Total registered							13 573 088	Abstaining: 58.04 %

Results considering 99.97 % of scrutinized tables (41 338 of 41 349).