MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Michelle Bachelet takes office in Chile

Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated as Chile's first woman president Saturday during a ceremony at the country's Congress attended by thirty world leaders and delegations from 120 countries.

Socialist Bachelet, 54, single mother and self-declared agnostic, belongs to the coalition that has ruled Chile since the return of democracy in 1990.

Educated as a pediatrician, she's the daughter of a former Chilean Air Force commander who was tortured and killed for opposing the 1973 military coup headed by General Augusto Pinochet. Ms. Bahcelet and family were exiled in Australia and finally East Germany, before returning to Chile in the early eighties to join the pro democracy forces.

She held the ministries of Health and Defence under the outgoing administration and was virtually hand picked the coalition's candidate by outgoing president Ricardo Lagos, Chile's most popular leader in the last half century.

Bachelet was sworn in by Senate President Eduardo Frei Ruiz Saturday morning for a four-year term. No speeches were made during the 20-minute ceremony in accordance with strict Chilean protocol, although the serious mood was broken by a solitary shout of "We love you Michelle".

Almost thirty world leaders, mostly from the Americas, and 120 foreign delegations were present in Congress including Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, who wore a black tie to commemorate the second anniversary of the Madrid terrorist attacks.

Also on hand were the presidents of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner; Bolivia, Evo Morales; Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez; Peru, Alejandro Toledo; Venezuela, Hugo Chavez; Nicanor Duarte from Paraguay as well as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Bachelet inherits a well-functioning democracy with a strong economy enjoying a healthy surplus and booming trade with record copper prices. The Chilean economy is considered a show case among developing countries.

However one of the incoming president biggest tasks will be to find ways to improve income distribution in a country where 80% of Chileans earn less than the equivalent of 576 US dollars per month, unemployment has just only dropped below two digits and in spite of great advances, poverty is still a major challenge.

In a very conservative society Ms Bachelet is the first divorced president (divorce was only recently legalized) and has named an "affirmative action" cabinet made up of ten per gender, the first time so many women will hold top-level positions in government. That team will be entrusted with putting into practice the 36 measures President Bachelet pledged to implement in her first 100 days in office, including higher pensions and increased subsidies to encourage more job creation. She will be helped in pushing through those reforms by the ruling coalition's operational majority in both houses of Congress for the first time.

During his term outgoing president Lagos managed to review the 1980 constitution inherited from Pinochet, not only eliminating military influence in government but also for-life Senators which ensured the conservative opposition an operational veto power over all legislation.

Two powerful leaders from the junior member of the coalition hold the key posts of vice president and Minister of Interior and Foreign Affairs, Christian Democrats Andres Zaldivar and Alejandro Foxley. The leader of the Senate is also a Christian Democrat, former president Ricardo Lagos.

Since the return of democracy in 1990 Chile has had two Christian Democrat presidents, Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei, and two Socialist, Ricardo Lagos and Michelle Bachelet.