Michelle Bachelet

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (born September 29 1951) is a Chilean socialist politician and Chile's first female Defense Minister. She is currently a candidate for Chile's presidential election of 2005, representing the governing Coalition of Parties for Democracy (CPD).

Life and career

Bachelet was born in Santiago to anthropologist Ángela Jeria and Air Force General Alberto Bachelet. She graduated from high school in 1969 at Liceo Nº 1 Javiera Carrera, a girls-only school. In 1970 she entered medical school at the University of Chile.

Related Topics:
Santiago - 1969 - 1970 - University of Chile

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During the government of Salvador Allende, Bachelet's father was put in charge of the Food Distribution Office, and following the September 11 1973 coup, he was detained and tortured at the Air War Academy, under charges of treason. In March 1974, as a product of continuous beating, he suffered a cardiac arrest that caused his death. Bachelet and her mother were also detained and tortured, at Villa Grimaldi, a notorious detention center in Santiago. In 1975, both were exiled to Australia, where Bachelet's older brother Alberto lived. Bachelet settled in East Germany where she learned German at the Herder Institute in Leipzig and continued with her medical studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Related Topics:
Salvador Allende - September 11 - 1973 - Coup - Treason - 1974 - Villa Grimaldi - 1975 - Australia - East Germany - German - Herder Institute - Leipzig - Humboldt University of Berlin

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In 1979 Bachelet returned to Chile, where she concluded her studies and graduated from medical school as a surgeon at the University of Chile in 1982. Between 1983 and 1986 she specialized in pediatrics and public health at Children's Hospital Roberto del Río. During this time, she returned to political activity, to fight for the reestablishment of democracy. She aided non-governmental organizations (NGOs) helping children of the tortured and disappeared. Between 1986 and 1990, Bachelet headed NGO PIDEE.

Related Topics:
1979 - 1982 - 1983 - 1986 - Pediatrics - Public health - Non-governmental organization - 1990

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Following the return of democracy in 1990, she worked for the Ministry of Health and was a consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Health Organization and the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Related Topics:
Pan-American Health Organization - World Health Organization - German Society for Technical Cooperation

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Between 1994 and July 1997, Bachelet worked as adviser for the Health Undersecretary. Driven by an interest in civil-military relations, she began to study military strategy at the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (Anepe) in Chile, obtaining first place of her promotion, which allowed her to continue her studies in the United States at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, DC, under a presidential scholarship. In 1998 she returned to Chile to work for the Defense Ministry as Minister adviser and graduated from a Masters program in military science at the Chilean Army's War Academy.

Related Topics:
1994 - 1997 - United States - Inter-American Defense College - Washington, DC - 1998 - Masters - Military science

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