CHILE'S CHOICE

Marc Cooper writes: The election of Socialist pediatrician Michelle Bachelet as Chile's first woman president and one of the very few female heads of state in Latin American history was good news. But her potential to enact more than symbolic change must be viewed with skepticism. Her Socialist Party, governing in alliance with the center-right Christian Democrats, has refused to fundamentally alter or reform the "savage capitalist" economic system imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship. Chile is one of the most unequal economies in the world, producing fabulous wealth for a few and just-above-subsistence for many. A victim of torture under the Pinochet regime (as was her father, an air force general), Bachelet should be more aggressive than her predecessors in allowing prosecution of the perpetrators of torture and murder. She should also show the courage to enact significant economic reforms. The broken private pension system cries out for attention, as do underfunded schools and the dilapidated public health system. The Chilean minimum wage needs a hyper-boost, and the 8 percent unemployment rate must be lowered by a public works program. If Bachelet doesn't take bold steps to re-engage Chileans in political life, the novelty of her gender will very soon wear thin.

PRO-IMPEACHMENT MAJORITY

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