Army in Barracks

18 January 2006



Chile’s New President is a Single Mother

Those interested in the piffling trivia that sometimes intrudes on the study of history were pleased to note that Chile has elected a woman, Michelle Bachelet, as its president. For the first time since independence in 1810, the top man is the country isn’t a man. Those who think that is a big deal have missed the point. Here is a popularly elected socialist welcomed by Washington as well as her own people, and the army is staying in its barracks.

In one of the Bush administration’s wiser moves, the American government has said through White House spokesman David Almacy, “We have an excellent, long-standing relationship with Chile and look forward to working with the new president and her team.” That is a far different response from the one the Nixon administration had in 1973 when Salvador Allende, another socialist, was elected President of Chile. The CIA assisted in a military coup d’etat which put the odious Augosto Pinochet in power for 17 years.

Another difference between then and now is that the military of Chile doesn’t seem to mind the ascendancy of this former torture victim of General Pinochet. Perhaps this is out of respect for her father, an Air Force General who was executed by the dictator. Then again, it might be out of respect for the new president – she finished first in her class in military studies, and used to be defense minister.

Even more likely, though, is the belief in Chile’s military that its day as national arbiter of politics is over and done with. Like their Yankee counterparts, the Chilean military has come to like the freedom that civilian control provides. It is not the army’s fault that unemployment is at 8%, nor is the air force on the hook for rising urban crime. They have seen the politicians’ jobs, and they don’t want them. In the face of such a military, no outside manipulation is possible.

So, while the trivialists harp on her gender and on her unmarried status, the Chilean newspaper Estrategia hit the nail on the head, when it wrote, “Although there were political confrontations, this did not result in any interference in economic or business affairs, which reflects very well on Chile, its civic maturity and the solidity of its institutions.” La Tercera, a competing publication, said that the economic situation of Chile looks promising and within a generation it could count itself as a developed country. With the election of President Bachelet, it has already come of age politically.


© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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