Race narrows

Santiago, Chile

A Socialist single mother finished ahead this week in the first round of Chile’s presidential elections, but she will have to survive a runoff to become the South American country’s first female president. Michelle Bachelet, the candidate of Chile’s center-left ruling coalition, fell four points short of the 50 percent needed to win in the first round. Her opponent in the runoff—conservative millionaire businessman Sebastián Piñera—got a quick boost when third-place finisher Joaquín Lavín, conceded defeat and pledged his “total support” to Piñera. Bachelet’s Concertación bloc has ruled since Gen. Augusto Pinochet left power in 1990.

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