Chile’s wonder woman

IT MAY SEEM REMARKABLE that Chile, arguably the most culturally conservative nation in Latin America, elected a female president last Sunday -- one who is an agnostic and a single mother at that. But in other ways, it’s entirely fitting that Michelle Bachelet, a pediatrician who had served as health minister and then as defense minister in the administration of Ricardo Lagos, is becoming the leader of her country, given how much her life story mirrors Chile’s own struggles.

Bachelet’s father was a moderate air force general who was not supportive of the 1973 military coup led by Augusto Pinochet, and his loyalty to the constitution cost him his life. Bachelet herself was detained for a time and tortured by Pinochet’s security forces, then went into exile. Democracy was restored in 1990, and Bachelet’s election at a time when the 90-year-old Pinochet is under house arrest represents a tribute to how far the country has come.

Bachelet is a member of the Socialist Party, so her triumph has been portrayed as part of the broader leftward trend in the hemisphere. This is only true to a point; Chile’s Socialists have long espoused free-market policies that have served the nation well.

Chile, a nation of 16 million people, is South America’s unquestioned economic success story, serving as a case study in the opportunities provided by engaging the global economy. Throughout most of the ‘90s, Chile averaged 8% annual growth in real gross domestic product. After rebounding from a recession, the economy is back on track, with declining unemployment and an inflation rate of under 3%.

Outgoing President Lagos presided over the adoption of a free-trade agreement with the United States, and Chile’s central bank announced this week that the nation’s economy was estimated to grow by as much as 6.25% in 2006, exceeding initial government estimates.

The lesson Chile’s Socialists can teach their more demagogic leftist counterparts elsewhere in Latin America is that you don’t have to embrace selfdefeating economic policies in order to stand up to the U.S. The Lagos government might have seen eye to eye with Washington on economics, but it still declined to support the Bush administration’s bid for U.N. Security Council authorization to invade Iraq.

Chile didn’t legalize divorce until 2004, and the nation’s women have long suffered legal discrimination on a variety of fronts. But the Catholic Church’s firm control over social legislation in Chile is starting to erode, as it is in other South American countries, and Bachelet should aim to accelerate this trend. Her election promises to demonstrate to the rest of the continent the benefits of a secular, pro-market administration.