Santiago (Chile), 1951

By Latinoamerican Team

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria was the first woman to serve as President of Chile and the second woman to lead a major Latin American country, following María Estela Martínez de Perón in Argentina. She was first elected in 2006, winning the runoff against businessman Sebastián Piñera with 53.51% of the votes. In November 2013, she ran for president again at the head of the center-left coalition Nueva Mayoría. Once more, she triumphed in the runoff, this time against candidate Evelyn Matthei from the Independent Democratic Union. She took office in March 2014, promising to restore free university education and promote tax, electoral, and constitutional reforms.

Bachelet, who has a degree in Medicine, was active in the Socialist Youth during Salvador Allende’s government with the Popular Unity (UP). She later joined the Socialist Party of Chile, where she continues to be politically active.

During Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, her father, a career military officer and collaborator of Allende, died due to torture. In 1975, Michelle herself was imprisoned and tortured. After being released, she lived in exile in Australia and Germany. She returned to Chile in 1979, resuming her medical studies and political activism.

She attended the Inter-American Defense College in Washington and holds a postgraduate degree in military strategy. She has held high-ranking positions in the Chilean Socialist Party and served as Minister of Health and Minister of National Defense during Ricardo Lagos’s government.