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November 18, 2013

Bachelet Leads 1st Round of Chilean Presidential Vote; Student Leader Elected to Congress 
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Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet is poised to return to office
after winning the first round of presidential elections. Bachelet took
close to 47 percent in Sunday's vote, more than 20 points ahead of her
closest rival, but just short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a
run-off. That vote will be held next month. Bachelet served from 2006 to
2010 as Chile's first female president. She has run on a platform of
tackling income inequality and reforming a constitution dating back to
the regime of General Augusto Pinochet, when she herself was a political
prisoner. In the congressional vote, the Chilean activist Camila Vallejo
was elected to a seat in parliament. Vallejo helped lead Chile's student
uprising in 2011, which saw massive protests for affordable university
education and deeper structural changes.

 

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