A Victim of Torture, the Doctor President Speaks, Spanish, Portugese, German, English and French.

[NNadir]

I am speaking of the President of Chile, Michelle Bachalet, of whom I read while looking into the matter of the death of the criminal Pinochet.

What a woman!!!!

Bachelet—a surgeon, pediatrician and epidemiologist with studies in military strategy—served as Health Minister and Defense Minister under President Ricardo Lagos. She is a separated mother of three and a self-described agnostic, which sets her apart in a predominantly Catholic country. A polyglot, she speaks Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and French. In 2006, Forbes magazine ranked her as 17th in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world...

...Facing growing food shortages, the government of Salvador Allende placed Bachelet's father in charge of the Food Distribution Office. When Augusto Pinochet came to power in the September 11, 1973 coup, General Bachelet, refusing exile, was detained at the Air War Academy, under charges of treason. Following months of daily torture at Santiago's Public Prison, on March 12, 1974, he suffered a cardiac arrest that resulted in his death. On January 10, 1975, Bachelet and her mother were detained, and tortured, at Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret detention center in Santiago...

...In February 1979 Bachelet returned to Santiago, Chile from East Germany. Her medical school coursework from the GDR was not recognized at the University of Chile (under the control of the military at the time of her return), forcing her to resume her studies from where she had left off before fleeing the country. She graduated as an M.D. in 1982 as one of the best students in her class. Her academic performance and published papers earned her a scholarship to specialize in pediatrics and public health at Children's Hospital Roberto del Río (1983–1986). During this time she also worked at PIDEE (Protection of Children Injured by States of Emergency Foundation), a non-governmental organization helping children of the tortured and missing in Santiago and Chillán. She was head of the foundation's Medical Department between 1986 and 1990...<5[1>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Bachelet

Having suffered, Chile knows how to pick a President!!!!

[Kutjara]

1. But I'll bet she doesn't own a nice shiny mountain bike. n/t

[Fridays Child]

4. And she's a Socialist (gasp)!

[NNadir]

5. She went to Karl Marx University in East Germany.

She slept with a communist terrorist.

Of course, she has negotiated free trade agreements with New Zealand too.

She has had, I think, a most remarkable life.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Oh, yeah!?? Does she speak Gibberish like our PresiDunce?

And, I bet she doesn't even know how to pernounce Newkuler.

[brook]

3. Can she eat a pretzel? n/t

[librechik]

6. I heard on Cspan this am that Chile is doing very well economically

I was thrilled to hear it.

[NNadir]

7. It goes to show that a nation can recover from a disastrous presidency.

That is something we all need to hear. It had to be a very dark time in Chile, and it lasted almost two decades.