Leftist fiesta in Chile for Bachelet inauguration

[tocqueville]

By Silene Ramirez
Sat Mar 11, 7:11 PM ET


VALPARAISO, Chile (Reuters) - Michelle Bachelet, Chile's first female president, was sworn in on Saturday before a who's who of Latin America's resurgent leftist leadership, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, Uruguay's Tabare Vazquez, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales were among more than two dozen heads of state at the inauguration in the coastal city of Valparaiso, home to Chile's Congress.

"In Latin America, you have a laborer becoming president, that's Lula; an Indian, Evo, has arrived; a socialist woman; and a soldier -- that's me, a revolutionary soldier -- building a new South American project that is vital for the salvation of our people," Chavez said as he arrived at Congress.

Bachelet, a medical doctor and former defense minister, is the fourth consecutive leader from the center-left coalition that has ruled Chile since the country returned to democracy in 1990 after the 17-year Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060312/wl_nm/chile_bachelet_dc




she must have felt pretty alone...

[cliss]

1. There is no place for Rice in the New, Emerging

Central and South America. It's truly amazing, unbelievable. These southern countries are reclaiming their nations. I was practically in tears when I read the story of Bachelet; how she was tortured, her cell-mates raped....all under U.S. aggression. Now, she wants to focus on the future. Just unbelievable.

Who could have guessed that the new face of freedom would come from these trampled economies.

I noticed that "smile" on Rice's face is pretty contorted. She was probably trying her damndest to look happy, but on the inside she knows she's dead meat.