Preceding the visit on Nov. 17 of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to Miriam College for a “Dialogue with Women and Youth” is the National Women’s Summit, which will gather students and guests from Congress and the Senate, local governments and civil society to discuss current issues of empowerment, especially in the economic and political fields, for Filipino women.
These are matters that have captured the attention and commitment of Bachelet, not just as part of her political career in her native Chile, but also as an international civil servant and spokesperson for the world’s women.
Much of this she owes to her own life experiences, as the daughter of a man who was arrested, tortured and killed for being a prominent supporter of assassinated Chilean President Salvador Allende, and as a doctor and political figure who made ameliorating the plight of Chile’s poor a priority during her term as president.
Indeed, Bachelet has not shied away from showing her “women’s heart” in her statements as a political figure. In her first victory speech in 2006, she offered a reconciliatory hand to those who had persecuted her, her family and all their supporters. “Because I was a victim of hate,” she told an interviewer, “I’ve dedicated my life to turning hate into understanding, tolerance and—why not say it?—love.”
When Bachelet’s term as president ended in 2010, leaving office on a tide of support and approval, she formed an NGO, Fundacion Dialoga (Dialogue Foundation), to continue the “renewal of ideas” from the center-leftist front and to allow for more space for new and youthful leadership.
But Chile and the world were not done yet with Bachelet’s talents and leadership.
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Also in 2010, Bachelet headed the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, a joint initiative with the International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization, “to promote social policies that stimulate economic growth and social cohesion.” Under her leadership, the Group came out with a report that now serves as a guide for United Nations policies and actions on “inclusive globalization.”
In 2011, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon approved an initiative to consolidate all the UN agencies dealing with women and gender concerns into a single entity known as UN Women. He named Bachelet as the first Director of the agency, holding the rank of deputy secretary general. As such, Bachelet led efforts to increase women’s political participation worldwide, encourage women’s economic empowerment, and put an end to violence against women.
But in 2013, Bachelet resigned from UN Women to return to Chile, announcing her decision to return to politics and contest the presidency. Having made her political comeback and regaining the presidency, Bachelet is thus at the unique position of being one of two women leaders in the world helping shape the future of economic and political cooperation, with an emphasis on the role of women, across the Pacific.
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Bachelet’s journey from detention to political exile, then to political rehabilitation and power, is certainly inspiring. But it wasn’t as smooth or untroubled as it may appear.
Chile is said to be “renowned for its conservatism, Catholicism and machismo,” which may be why Bachelet described herself as incarnating “all the capital sins: socialist, my father’s daughter, divorced and an atheist.”
Her father, an air force general, was a staunch supporter of Salvador Allende, and was one of his deputies detained after the coup that ousted Allende. It’s clear that the general played a major influence on his daughter, who was active in the Young Socialist Party at the time of her father’s arrest and death in the hands of his torturers.
Briefly detained with her mother, the young Michelle, with the help of family friends, fled to Australia, then Germany, where she finished her medical studies and had two children with a fellow Chilean in exile. But Chile continued to beckon, and with “political normalization” came the opportunity for Michelle to enter the political arena anew. She first made history as Chile’s (and Latin America’s) first woman defense minister, easing the strained relations between the military and civil government. A journalist writes that “her popularity rocketed after she was photographed riding through driving rain in a troop carrier, after ordering the army out to aid flood victims in Santiago.”
An observer remarks that, by being open with the details of her personal and political life, Bachelet won the affinity of many Chilean voters, reflecting “a long hidden reality in Chile, not the fake image of the perfect family or the model politician.”
Still, she takes pains to balance the demands of a political career with the needs of her family. A single mother of three, she has been criticized for taking time off from her official duties to spend time with her children and mother. But, said an observer, “in a country with an average working week of over 50 hours, Michelle’s stand on quality time with her family strikes a chord, especially with women voters.”
Bachelet will certainly have much to share with the women of the Philippines when she meets them face to face.
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Courtesy of my “fact-checking” daughter, a clarification: Idris Elba, whom I had mentioned as a possible “alternative” Bond in case Daniel Craig opts out of any future movies, was not in the movie “Love Actually.” The English-Nigerian actor portraying Keira Knightley’s new husband was Chiwetel Ejiofor.
The service, says my daughter, was to save me from “nasty” commenters trolling for published errors. Apologies to readers, and thanks to an alert and vigilant daughter.