Michelle bachelet husband
Michelle Bachelet
President of Chile from to and to
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria[a] (Spanish:[beˈɾonikamiˈʃelβaʃeˈleˈxeɾja]; born 29 September [2]) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from to and again from to , becoming the first woman to hold the presidency.
Michelle bachelet biography ingles supermarkets Radio Cooperativa in Spanish. Archived from the original on 11 March The Government estimated at the time of the law going into effect that some two million Chilean couples cohabiting could have their unions legally recognized. After leaving the presidency, she was appointed the first executive director of the newly created United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.She was re-elected in December with over 62% of the vote, having previously received 54% in , making her the first President of Chile to be re-elected since [3] After her second term, she served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from to [4] Earlier in her career, she was appointed as the first executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.[5]
Bachelet, a physician with studies in military strategy, also held positions as Health Minister and Defense Minister under President Ricardo Lagos.
She is a separated mother of three and identifies as agnostic.[6] In addition to her native Spanish, she is fluent in English and has proficiency in German, French, and Portuguese.[7][8]
Family background
Bachelet is the second child of archaeologistÁngela Jeria Gómez (–) and Air ForceBrigadier GeneralAlberto Bachelet Martínez (–).[9]
Bachelet's great-great-grandfather, Louis-Joseph Bachelet Lapierre (–), was a French wine merchant from Chassagne-Montrachet who immigrated to Chile with his Parisian wife, Françoise Jeanne Beault, in He was hired as a wine-making expert by the Subercaseaux vineyards in Santiago.
Bachelet Lapierre's son, Germán, was born in Santiago in and, in , married Luisa Brandt Cadot, a Chilean of French and Swiss descent. They had a son, Alberto Bachelet Brandt, born in
Bachelet's maternal great-grandfather, Máximo Jeria Chacón, of Spanish (Basque) and Greek heritage, was the first person in Chile to earn a degree in agronomic engineering.
He founded several agronomy schools in the country[10] and married Lely Johnson, the daughter of an English physician working in Chile. Their son, Máximo Jeria Johnson, married Ángela Gómez Zamora, and they had five children, with Bachelet's mother being the fourth.[9]
Early life and career
Childhood years
Bachelet was born in La Cisterna,[11] a middle-class suburb of Santiago.
She was named after French actress Michèle Morgan.[12] Bachelet spent many of her childhood years traveling around her native Chile, moving with her family from one military base to another. She lived and attended primary schools in, among other places, Quintero, Antofagasta, and San Bernardo. In , she moved with her family to the United States, where her father was assigned to the military mission at the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Her family lived for almost two years in Bethesda, Maryland, where she attended Western Junior High School and learned to speak English fluently.[13]
Returning to Chile in , she graduated in from Liceo Nº 1 Javiera Carrera, a prestigious girls' public high school, finishing near the top of her class.[14][15] There she was class president, a member of the choir and volleyball teams, and part of a theater group and a band, "Las Clap Clap," which she co-founded and which toured around several school festivals.
In , after obtaining a relatively high score on the university admission test, she entered medical school at the University of Chile, where she was selected in the th position (out of admitted applicants).[14][15][16] She originally intended to study sociology or economics, but was prevailed upon by her father to study medicine instead.[17] She has said she opted for medicine because it was 'a concrete way of helping people cope with pain' and 'a way to contribute to improve health in Chile.'[7]
Detention and exile
Facing growing food shortages, the government of Salvador Allende placed Bachelet's father in charge of the Food Distribution Office.
When General Augusto Pinochet suddenly came to power via the 11 September coup d'état, Bachelet's father was detained at the Air War Academy on charges of treason. Following months of daily torture at Santiago's Public Prison, he suffered a cardiac arrest that resulted in his death on 12 March In early January , Bachelet and her mother were detained at their apartment by two DINA agents,[18] who blindfolded them and drove them to Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, where they were separated and subjected to interrogation and torture.[19]
In , Bachelet said she had been interrogated by DINA chief Manuel Contreras there.[20] Some days later, Bachelet was transferred to Cuatro Álamos ("Four Poplars") detention center, where she was held until the end of January.
Thanks to the assistance of Roberto Kozak,[21] Bachelet was able to go into exile in Australia,[22] where her older brother, Alberto, had moved in [14]
Of her torture, Bachelet said, in , that "it was nothing in comparison to what others suffered".
She was "yelled at using abusive language, shaken", and both she and her mother were "threatened with the killing of the other". She was "never tortured with electricity", but she did see it done to other prisoners.[23][24]
In May , Bachelet left Australia and later relocated to East Germany, where she was assigned an apartment in Am Stern, Potsdam by the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Her mother joined her a month later and lived separately in Leipzig.
Michele bachmann biography Archived from the original on 23 April Unasur [ edit ]. Archived from the original on 30 July Student protests [ edit ].In October , Bachelet began working at a communal clinic in the Babelsberg neighborhood as a stepping stone to furthering her medical studies at a university in East Germany. During this time, she met architect Jorge Leopoldo Dávalos Cartes, another Chilean exile, and they married in In January , Bachelet went to Leipzig to study German at the Herder Institute of Karl Marx University (now the University of Leipzig).
She gave birth to her first child with Dávalos, Jorge Alberto Sebastián, in June She returned to Potsdam in September to continue her medical studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin for two years. Five months after enrolling as a student, however, she obtained authorization to return to her country.[25]
Return to Chile
After four years in exile, Bachelet returned to Chile in Her medical school credits from the GDR were not recognized, so she had to restart her studies where she left off before she fled the country.
[citation needed] Despite this setback, she graduated as physician-surgeon[26] on 7 January [27] Bachelet wanted to work in the public sector where she could make the most impact, but her request to work as a general practitioner was denied by the military government on "political grounds".[7]
However, Bachelet's academic achievements and published papers earned her a scholarship from the Chilean Medical Chamber to specialize in pediatrics and public health at the Roberto del Río Children's Hospital at the University of Chile' (–86).
She completed the program with excellent grades but did not receive her certification for "financial reasons".[28]
During this time, Bachelet also worked at PIDEE (Protection of Children Injured by States of Emergency Foundation), a non-governmental organization that provided support for the children of the missing and the tortured in Santiago and Chillán.
She served as the head of the Medical Department of the foundation from and Some time after the birth of her second child with Dávalos, Francisca Valentina, in February , she and her husband legally separated. Between and , Bachelet had a romantic relationship with Alex Vojkovic Trier,[29] an engineer and spokesman for the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front, an armed group that, among other actions, attempted to assassinate Pinochet in The affair was a minor issue during her presidential campaign, during which she stated that she never supported any of Vojkovic's activities.[10]
After Chile's transition to democracy in , Bachelet worked for the Ministry of Health's West Santiago Health Service and served as a consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Health Organization, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit.
While working for the National AIDS Commission (Conasida), she became romantically involved with Aníbal Hernán Henríquez Marich, a fellow physician and a right-wing supporter of Pinochet, who fathered her third child, Sofía Catalina, in December Their relationship ended a few years later. From March and July , Bachelet worked as Senior Assistant to the Deputy Health Minister.[30] Driven by an interest in civil-military relations, Bachelet began studying military strategy at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE) in Chile in , earning first place in her class.[7] This achievement earned her a presidential scholarship, allowing her to continue her studies in the United States at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., where she completed a Continental Defense Course in That same year she returned to Chile to work for the Defense Ministry as the Senior Assistant to the Defense Minister and went on to graduate from a Master's program in military science at the Chilean Army's War Academy.[citation needed]
Early political career
Involvement in politics
In , during her first year as a university student, Bachelet joined the Socialist Youth and was an active supporter of the Popular Unity.
In the immediate aftermath of the coup, she and her mother worked as couriers for the underground Socialist Party directorate, which was trying to organize a resistance movement. Eventually, almost all of them were captured and disappeared.[31]
In the second half of the s, Bachelet, after her return from exile, became politically active, fighting for the restoration of democracy in Chile, although not on the front line.
In , she became a member of the party's Central Committee and, from to , she was an active member of the Political Commission.[citation needed] In , she ran against future presidential opponent Joaquín Lavín for the mayorship of Las Condes, a wealthy suburb of Santiago and a right-wing stronghold.[citation needed] Lavín won the candidate election with nearly 78% of the vote, while Bachelet finished fourth with %.[citation needed]
Minister of Health
On 11 March , virtually unknown at the time, Bachelet was appointed Minister of Health by President Ricardo Lagos.
She conducted an in-depth study of the public healthcare system which resulted in the creation of the AUGE plan a few years later. During her tenure, she was given the challenging task of eliminating the waiting lists in the overburdened public hospital system within the first days of Lagos's government. Although she was successful in reducing the waiting lists by 90%, she was unable to completely eliminate them[10] and offered her resignation, which was promptly rejected by the President.
Bachelet authorized the free distribution of the morning-after pill for victims of sexual abuse, which sparked controversy.[citation needed]
Minister of National Defense
On 7 January Bachelet was appointed Minister of National Defense, becoming the first woman in a Latin American country and one of the few in the world to hold this position.[32] As Minister of Defense, she fostered reconciliatory gestures between the military and victims of the dictatorship, leading to General Juan Emilio Cheyre, head of the army, making a historic declaration in that the military would "never again" subvert democracy in Chile.
Additionally, she oversaw reforms of the military pension system and continued with the modernization process of the Chilean armed forces, including purchasing of new military equipment and participating in international peace operations. One key moment that has been cited as a factor in Bachelet's chances to the presidency occurred in mid, during a flood in northern Santiago.
As Defense Minister, she led a rescue operation while wearing a cloak and military cap, perched atop an amphibioustank.[10][33][34]
Main article: Chilean presidential election, –
By the end of , Bachelet's surging popularity in opinion polls made her the only politician within the Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertación de los Partidos por la Democracia; CPD) who was capable of defeating Joaquín Lavín in the presidential election.
As a result, she was chosen as the Socialist Party's candidate for the presidency.[35] Initially hesitant to accept the nomination, as it was never a goal of hers, she eventually agreed as she felt she could not let her supporters down.[36] On 1 October of that year, she stepped down from her government position to fully focus on her campaign and to support the CPD in the municipal elections held later that month.
On 28 January she was officially named the Socialist Party's presidential candidate. An open primary was scheduled for July to determine the CPD's sole presidential candidate, but it was canceled after Bachelet's only rival, Christian DemocratSoledad Alvear, a cabinet member in the first three CPD administrations, withdrew early due to a lack of support within her own party and in opinion polls.[citation needed]
In the December election, Bachelet ran against three candidates: Sebastián Piñera from the center-right (RN), Joaquín Lavín from the right-wing (UDI), and Tomás Hirsch from the left (JPM).
As predicted by opinion polls, she didn't receive the absolute majority needed to win the election outright, obtaining 46% of the vote. On 15 January , she went on to face Piñera in the runoff election and won the presidency with % of the vote, becoming Chile's first female president and the first woman in Latin America to reach the presidency through a direct election without being the wife of a previous head of state or political leader.[37][38]
On 30 January , Bachelet was declared President-elect by the Elections Certification Court (Tricel) and announced her cabinet, which, for the first time, was composed of an equal number of men and women, as promised during her campaign.
To reflect the balance of power within the Coalition, Bachelet named seven ministers from the Christian Democrat Party (PDC), five from the Party for Democracy (PPD), four from the Socialist Party (PS), one from the Social Democrat Radical Party (PRSD), and three without party affiliation.[citation needed]
First days
Bachelet was sworn in as President of the Republic of Chile on 11 March in a ceremony held in a plenary session of the National Congress in Valparaíso attended by many foreign heads of states and delegates.[34] Much of Bachelet's first three months as president were spent working on 36 measures she had promised during her campaign to implement during her first days in office.
They ranged from simple presidential decrees, such as providing free health care for older patients, to complex bills to reform the social security system and the electoral system. For her first state visit, Bachelet chose Argentina, arriving in Buenos Aires on 21 March. There she met with president Néstor Kirchner, with whom she signed strategic agreements on energy and infrastructure, including the possibility of launching a bidding process to operate the Transandine Railway.[39]
Domestic affairs
Social policies
In March Bachelet created an advisory committee to reform the pension system, which was headed by former budget director Mario Marcel.[40] The commission issued its final report in July ,[41] and in March Bachelet signed the bill into law.
The new legislation established a Basic Solidarity Pension (PBS) and a Solidarity Pension Contribution (APS), guaranteeing a minimum pension for the 60% poorest segment of the population, regardless of their contribution history.[42] The reform also grants a bonus to female pensioners for every child born alive.[43]
In October Bachelet enacted legislation to protect subcontracted employees, which would benefit an estimated &#;million workers.[44] In June she introduced pay equality legislation, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work in the private sector, regardless of gender.[45]
In September Bachelet signed the "Chile Grows with You" plan into law, providing comprehensive social services to vulnerable children from ages zero to six.
That law also established a social welfare management framework called the "Intersectoral Social Protection System", made up of subsystems such as "Chile Solidario" and "Chile Grows with You".[46]
Between and the Bachelet administration delivered a so-called "literary briefcase" (a box of books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, poetry works and books for both children and adults) to the , poorest families with children attending primary school from first to fourth grade.[47]
In March , Bachelet launched the "I Choose my PC" program, awarding free computers to poor seventh-graders with excellent academic performance attending government-subsidized schools.[48] During and Bachelet delivered maternity packages to all babies born in public hospitals, which are about 80% of total births.[49][50] In January , Bachelet promulgated a law allowing the distribution of emergency contraception pills in public and private health centers, including to persons under 14, without parental consent.
The law also requires high schools to add a sexual education program to their curriculum.[51]
Student protests
Bachelet's first political crisis came in late April , when massive high school student demonstrations – unseen in three decades – broke out throughout the country, demanding better public education.
In June , she sought to dampen the student protests by setting up an member advisory committee, including education experts from all political backgrounds, representatives of ethnic groups, parents, teachers, students, school owners, university rectors, people from diverse religious denominations, etc. Its purpose was to propose changes to the country's educational system and serve as a forum to share ideas and views.
The committee issued its final report in December [52] In August , she signed the education reform bill into law, which created two new regulatory bodies: a Superintendency on Education and a Quality Agency.[53]
Transantiago fiasco
During her presidency Bachelet opened 18 new subway stations in Santiago, nine in , one in and eight in [54][55] In December Bachelet announced the construction of a new subway line in Santiago, to be operational by [56] (the date was later changed to mid[57]).
In February Santiago's transport system was radically altered with the introduction of Transantiago, designed under the previous administration.[37] The system was nearly unanimously condemned by the media, the users and the opposition, significantly damaging her popularity, and leading to the sacking of her Transport minister.
On her decision not to abort the plan's start, she said in April she was given erroneous information which caused her to act against her "instincts."[58]
In September , Chile's Constitutional Court declared a US$&#;million loan by the Inter-American Development Bank to fund the transport system unconstitutional.
Bachelet – who had been forced to ask for the loan after Congress had refused to approve funds for the beleaguered program in November – made use of an emergency clause in the Constitution that grants funds equivalent to 2% of the fiscal budget.[59] In November , she invoked the emergency clause again after Congress denied once again funds for the system for
earthquake
On 27 February , during the last week of summer vacations[60] and less than two weeks before Bachelet's term was set to expire, Chile was struck by an magnitude earthquake that killed over people and caused widespread damage, including the collapse of apartment buildings and bridges and tsunamis that destroyed fishing villages.
Bachelet and the government faced criticism for their slow response to the disaster, which hit on a Saturday at &#;am[37] and left most of the country without electricity, phone, and Internet access.[61][62][63] Bachelet declared a state of catastrophe and, on Sunday afternoon, sent military troops to the most affected areas in an effort to quell instances of looting and arson.[37] She also imposed night curfews in the most affected cities,[64] but was criticized for not deploying the troops quickly enough.[65][66]
Human rights
In January Bachelet opened the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago, documenting the horrors of Pinochet's 16+1&#;2-year dictatorship.[67] In November she promulgated a law (submitted to Congress during the previous administration) creating the National Institute for Human Rights, with the goal of protecting and promoting human rights in the country.[68] The law also allowed for the reopening of the Rettig and Valech commissions for 18 months.[69] She used her power as president to send a bill to legalize gay marriages, and sponsored a reproductive rights bill.[70]
On 10 August the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warmly welcomed the UN General Assembly's appointment of Michelle Bachelet to succeed him.
He said that "She has all the attributes – courage, perseverance, passion, and a deep commitment to human rights".[71]
Other legislation passed
In August , Bachelet signed a freedom of information bill into law, which became effective in April
In January , Bachelet enacted a law creating the Ministry for the Environment.
The new legislation also created the Environmental Evaluation Service and the Superintendency for the Environment.[70][72][73]
Half of the ministries in her first government were occupied by women; in her successor's team, Sebastián Piñera, 18% were.[74]
Economy
Bachelet was widely credited for resisting calls from politicians within her own coalition to spend the country's huge copper revenues to close the income gap.[37][75] Instead in she created the Economic and Social Stabilization Fund, a sovereign wealth fund which accumulates fiscal surpluses above 1% of GDP.[76] This allowed her to finance new social policies and provide economic stimulus packages when the financial crisis hit the country.[37]
During her four years in office, the economy grew at an average rate of % per year (% on per capita basis), reaching a high of % in and a low of −% in due to the global financial crisis.
The real minimum wage increased an average of 2% per year, the lowest increase of any president since , while unemployment hovered between 7 and 8% for the first three years, then rose to nearly 11% during Inflation averaged % per year, reaching close to 9% in due to rising food prices.[77] Absolute poverty fell from % in November to % in November [78]
Political issues
Bachelet began her term with an unprecedented absolute majority in both chambers of Congress.
Michelle bachelet Retrieved 28 November Offices and distinctions. Archived from the original on 18 October Archived from the original on 3 SeptemberPrior to the elimination of appointed senators in the constitutional reforms, the CPD had never held a majority in the Senate. However, she was soon met with internal opposition from several discontented lawmakers in both chambers of Congress, known as díscolos ("disobedient", "ungovernable"). This opposition jeopardized the coalition's fragile and historic[79] congressional majority on a number of key executive-sponsored bills during much of her first two years in office and forced Bachelet to negotiate with a right-wing opposition that she perceived as "obstructionist".[80][81] By , the CPD had lost its absolute majority in both chambers of Congress as several senators and deputies from the coalition became independent.
In December , Pinochet died. Bachelet decided not to grant him a state funeral, an honour bestowed upon constitutionally elected Chilean presidents, but a military funeral as former commander-in-chief of the Army appointed by President Salvador Allende. She also refused to declare an official national day of mourning, but did authorize flags at military barracks to fly at half staff.
Pinochet's coffin was also allowed to be draped in a Chilean flag. Bachelet did not attend his funeral, saying it would be "a violation of [her] conscience", and sent Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot instead.[82]
In April , Bachelet's Education Minister, Yasna Provoste, was impeached by Congress for her handling of a scandal involving mismanagement of school subsidies.
Her conviction was the first for a sitting minister in 36 years.[83][84][85]
Foreign relations
Argentina
During her first year in office Bachelet faced continuing problems from neighbors Argentina and Peru.
Michelle bachman biography Retrieved 28 August Unasur [ edit ]. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. Archived from the original on 28 MarchIn July , she sent a letter of protest to Argentine president Néstor Kirchner after his government issued a decree increasing export tariffs on natural gas to Chile, which was considered by Bachelet to be a violation of a tacit bilateral agreement.[citation needed]
Peru
In early , Peru accused Chile of unilaterally redefining their shared sea boundary in a section of a law passed by Congress that detailed the borders of the new administrative region of Arica and Parinacota.
The impasse was resolved by the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal, which declared that section unconstitutional. In March , the Chilean state-owned and independent public broadcaster Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) canceled the broadcast of a documentary about the War of the Pacific after a cautionary call was made to the stations' board of directors by Chilean Foreign Relations Minister Alejandro Foxley, apparently acting on demands made by the Peruvian ambassador to Chile;[citation needed] the show was finally broadcast in late May of that year.
In August the Chilean government filed a formal diplomatic protest with Peru and summoned home its ambassador after Peru published an official map claiming a part of the Pacific Ocean that Chile considers its sovereign territory. Peru said this was just another step in its plans to bring the dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
In January Peru asked the court to consider the dispute, prompting Bachelet to summon home the Chilean ambassador in Lima for consultations.[86]
UN voting deadlock
The United Nations Security Council election held on 16 October , which saw a deadlock between Venezuela and Guatemala for the two-year, non-permanent Latin American and Caribbean seat on the Security Council, developed into a significant ideological issue in Chile and was viewed as a test for Bachelet.
The governing coalition was split, with the Socialists supporting Venezuela's bid and the Christian Democrats strongly opposing it. The day before the vote, the president announced through her spokesman that Chile would abstain, citing the lack of regional consensus on a single candidate, ending months of speculation.
In March , Chile's ambassador to Venezuela, Claudio Huepe, said in an interview with teleSUR that Bachelet personally told him that she had initially intended to vote for Venezuela but then "there were a series of circumstances that forced me to abstain".[87] The government quickly recalled Huepe and accepted his resignation.
Unasur
In May , Bachelet became the first President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and in September she called for an urgent summit after Bolivian President Evo Morales warned of a possible coup attempt against him. The presidents of Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, met with Bachelet at the La Moneda Palace in Santiago, where they agreed to send two commissions to Bolivia: one to mediate between the executive and the opposition, and another to investigate the killings in Pando Department.[88]
Cuba visit
In February , Bachelet visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro.
There she urged the United States to put an end to the embargo. No Chilean head of state had visited the country in 37 years.[89] Despite petitions from the Christian Democratic Party of her own governing coalition, and of the opposition parties, Bachelet did not meet with Cuban dissidents during her visit.[90] Soon after the meeting, Castro wrote that the "fascist and vengeful Chilean oligarchy is the same which more than years ago robbed Bolivia of its access to the Pacific and of copper-rich lands in a humiliating war".[91][92][93]
Progressive Leaders summit
In March , Bachelet hosted in Viña del Mar the "Progressive Leaders Summit", meeting with U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and presidents Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina. The meeting garnered some media interest because it took place six days before the highly anticipated G Summit in London.[94][95]
Trade
Continuing the coalition's free-trade strategy, in August Bachelet promulgated a free trade agreement with the People's Republic of China (signed under the previous administration of Ricardo Lagos), the first Chinese free-trade agreement with a Latin American nation; similar deals with Japan and India were promulgated in August In October , Bachelet promulgated a multilateral trade deal with New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (P4), also signed under Lagos's presidency.
She held free-trade talks with other countries, including Australia, Vietnam, Turkey and Malaysia.
Michelle bachelet biografia: Critics blamed tax reforms for complexity driving away investment and for the slowdown of the Chilean economy during Bachelet's second period in office. Bachelet began her term with an unprecedented absolute majority in both chambers of Congress. Lithuanian Presidency. Retrieved 24 June
Regionally, she signed bilateral free trade agreements with Panama, Peru and Colombia.[citation needed]
Other policies
In October , Bachelet granted amnesty to undocumented migrants from other Latin American countries. The measure was expected to benefit around 15, Peruvians and 2, Bolivians.[96] In December she signed in Bolivia a trilateral agreement with the presidents of Brazil and Bolivia to complete and improve a 4,&#;km road to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, via Arica and Iquique in Chile and Santos in Brazil.
In May , following months of intense lobbying, Chile was elected as member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, obtaining the largest vote among Latin American countries.[97]
In December Chile became the first country in South America, and the second in Latin America after Mexico, to receive an invitation to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[98] Bachelet signed the accession agreement in January ,[99] but it formally became a member in May , after she had left office.[]