Valparaiso, Chile
Chile’s first female president took the oath of office this week, and promptly fulfilled a campaign promise by appointing women to half of the positions in her Cabinet. President Michelle Bachelet leads the center-left coalition that has run the country since the fall of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship 16 years ago. A 54-year-old pediatrician, single mother, and self-described agnostic, Bachelet was an unusual candidate in one of Latin America’s most conservative Roman Catholic countries. But her personal saga—she was tortured and exiled by the military regime—won over many skeptics. “There was a time in our history when we were divided, looking at each other with suspicion,” Bachelet said. “Now the time has come to look at each other again in the face, in the eyes.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
Scientists are worried about amoebasUnder the radar Small and very mighty
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
