Michelle Bachelet: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:06, 19 January 2006

Revision as of 22:19, 19 January 2006

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Bachelet was born in [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], the second child of anthropologist Ángela Jeria Gómez and Air Force General Alberto Bachelet Martínez. <!--Her grandfather, Máximo Jeria Chacón, was Chile's first [[Agronomy|agronomic engineer]]. -->She spent much of her childhood years traveling around Chile, moving from one military base to another. In 1962 she moved with her family to the [[United States]], where her father was assigned to the military mission at the Chilean Embassy in [[Washington, DC|Washington]]. Her family spent almost two years living in [[Bethesda, Maryland]], where she attended middle school and learned to speak English fluently. Back in Chile, she graduated from high school in 1969 at Liceo Nº 1 Javiera Carrera, a prestigious girls-only school, finishing near the top of her class. Next year she took the university admissions test, obtaining one of the highest national scores. This allowed her to enter medical school at the [[Universidad de Chile|University of Chile]].

Under the government of [[Salvador Allende]], Bachelet's father was in charge of the Food Distribution Office, but when [[Augusto Pinochet]] came to power in the [[September 11]] [[1973]] [[Chilean coup of 1973|coup]], he was immediately detained at the Air War Academy, under charges of [[treason]]. Following months of daily torture at Santiago's Public Prison, includingon continuous[[March beatings, in March14]] [[1974]], he suffered a [[cardiac arrest]] that resulted in his death.<!--Bachelet's then-boyfriend, Jaime López, was also detained and tortured before his [[forced disappearance]].--> On [[10 January]] [[1975]], Bachelet and her mother were also detained, and tortured at [[Villa Grimaldi]], a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, for 21 days.[http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article332446.ece] Later in [[1975]], due to sympathetic connections in the military, both were exiled to [[Australia]], where Bachelet's older brother Alberto had moved in 1969. Bachelet and her mother decided to settle in [[East Germany]] where Bachelet learned [[German language|German]] at the [[Herder Institute]] in [[Leipzig]], continuing her medical studies at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]] for two years. There she met Jorge Dávalos, another Chilean exile, whom she married. Their first child, Sebastián, was born there in 1978.

[[Image:Michelle Bachelet.jpg|thumb|left|Michelle Bachelet giving a speech as Defense Minister]]