Standing on an open-air stage close to the San Fransisco church on the central street La Alameda in Santiago, Michelle Bachelet started her speech by saying "who would have thought it 15, or 10, or 5 years ago, that Chile would elect a woman as president". She went on in her speech to say many fine things about Chile, her commitment to her country, even her defeated election opponents; she was clearly moved by the occasion and spoke with feeling and charisma. In a particularly moving and memorable moment of the speech she remembered and paid tribute to her father, Alberto Bachelet, an Air Force general who was captured and tortured by the DINA after the military coup and as a result died in Santiago public prison in 1974; "I would have liked to give him a hug on this night".
Five minutes ago my wife was delighted to see the moon rise up from behind the foothills of the Andes, something she had never seen before in her life. "The moon is an important symbol of femininity", she explained, "It is a good sign". It is true that there is much that seems symbolic on this day; the election of a president who is the daughter of a military man, who suffered imprisonment and torture during the Pinochet dictatorship, and who went on to study Defense and to be the first female Minister of Defense. She is, as many Chileans are, a single mother, but is also a confessed agnostic in a country where Catholicism is the norm. President Lagos in his speech this afternoon said that the election of Bachelet is a sign of progress, that Chile is becoming more modern and more diverse. I hope he is right. I also hope that Bachelet will take the opportunity of going on holiday, and will come back full of energy and enthusiasm for the challenges ahead when she assumes power on the 11th of March.
