Chile's Bachelet wins presidential primary

[Judi Lynn]

Chile's Bachelet wins presidential primary
Published: June 30, 2013 Updated 13 minutes ago
The Associated Press



SANTIAGO, Chile — Former President Michelle Bachelet has won the country's first ever presidential primary and will represent the center-left coalition in November's presidential election.

Bachelet, a pediatrician who ended her 2006-2010 presidency with high popularity ratings, won the vote to lead the center-left New Majority coalition with 74 percent of the votes.

The race for the candidate who will lead the center-right Alliance for Chile is still too close to call with 90 percent polling stations reporting nationwide.

Former Economy Minister Pablo Longueira leads with 51 percent of the vote over former Defense Minister Andres Allamand who has 49 percent support.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/06/30/2565384/chiles-bachelet-to-win-presidential.html#storylink=cpy

(Short article, no more at link.)

[center]~ ~ ~



Michelle Bachelet with her father, Gen. Alberto Bachelet


[font size=1]
Michelle Bachelet estudió medicina en la Universidad de Chile y estuvo activa en el ala joven del
Partido Socialista. En 1975, los servicios de inteligencia chilenos las arrestaron a ella y a su
madre. Estuvieron prisioneras durante meses en la conocida prisión Villa Grimaldi.

María Elena Wood/ Wood Producciones

(Michelle Bachelet studied medicine at the University of Chile and was active in the youth wing
of the Socialist Party. In 1975, the Chilean intelligence services arrested her and her mother.
They were imprisoned for months in the notorious prison Villa Grimaldi.

María Elena Wood / Wood Productions)
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~ click for photo ~

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_05lNhXcoKM/UAnVfyr9osI/AAAAAAAAi1s/NRQCSENQHhI/s1600/ALLENDE+ET+GRAL+CARLOS+PRAT+MIN+INTERIEUR+,+MIN+ECONOMIE+ORLANDO+MILLAS+COMMUNISTE,+ET+GRAL+ALBERTO+BACHELET,+TRANSPORTS.jpg

Michelle Bachelet's father, General Alberto Bachelet,
right side of photo, with Chilean Pres. Salvador Allende





Whole family, with mother, Ángela Jeria,
and brother, also Alberto, and father, who
was also imprisoned and killed in prison.
Brother moved to Australia, Michelle and
mother lived there as exiles after their
torture and imprisonment, and the death
of their husband and father.



Ángela Jeria in more recent photo





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Best wishes to a candidate we already knows has been a wonderful president, regardless of the truculence of the current Chilean hard right, the same people who earlier tortured her and her mother in prison, and tortured her father, a high-ranking Chilean loyal military officer, to death.

Of course they'll be ready to fight her again, but her country loves her and the sacrifices she and her family have made are appreciated.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Factbox: Chile presidential favorite Bachelet's policy proposals

Factbox: Chile presidential favorite Bachelet's policy proposals
Reuters
10:15 p.m. EDT, June 30, 2013

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Michelle Bachelet handily won her leftist bloc's primary election on Sunday, reaffirming the popular politician is likely to stage a presidential comeback against a struggling right-wing rival in the November 17 vote.

Bachelet, Chile's first female president who governed the world's top copper-exporting nation from 2006 to 2010, has a clear at defeating conservative Pablo Longueira and winning a second term.
A pediatrician turned politician, Bachelet's first term was marked by market-friendly economic policies, welfare programs and her affable personal style.

Since then, her center-left political outlook seems to have shifted somewhat further to the left, coinciding with the massive protests for free and improved education that have swept Chile over the past two years.

Bachelet has pledged to hike corporate taxes, work toward free education and reform the dictatorship-era constitution to achieve her broader goal of reducing Chile's economic and social inequality.

More:
http://www.courant.com/news/nation-world/sns-rt-us-chile-primaries-bachelet-20130630,0,5936150.story

[ocpagu]

2. Best wishes to Bachelet.

The siege on Latin American progressive governments is becoming more evident. Let's hope Chileans understood that right-wingers always led to backlash, no matter how much they try to disguise themselves. She'll be back during a crucial moment.