Chilean president-elect is 'sign of great hope,' says cardinal

Published: 2006-01-19

SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) -- Chilean President-elect Michelle Bachelet is "a symbol of the re-encounter among Chileans, a sign of great hope and a reconciled country," said Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz Ossa of Santiago. Bachelet, a member of the Socialist Party that forms part of the ruling coalition Democratic Concertation, won a runoff election with 53 percent of the votes, defeating businessman Sebastian Pinera of the National Renewal party, who obtained 47 percent of the votes. Bachelet received Cardinal Errazuriz and officers of the Chilean bishops' conference at her residence Jan. 16, the day after the election. Bachelet "suffered hate, but she preferred to overcome this hate through comprehension, tolerance and, as she says, love," Cardinal Errazuriz said after the meeting. Bachelet's father was arrested, tortured and died in prison following the 1973 military coup that overthrew the socialist government of Salvador Allende; Bachelet and her mother also were arrested, tortured and forced into exile in Australia, East Germany and the United States.

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