Michelle Bachelet
|
Candidate
|
Evelyn Matthei
 |
Executive Director
of UN Women
|
Current Position
|
Minister of Labor
|
President of Chile
|
Notable Previous
Position
|
Senator
|
Chilean Social
Democrat (candidate of New Majority coalition)
|
Political Party
|
Independent
Democratic Union (candidate of the Alianza coalition)
|
61
|
Age
|
59
|
Gen. Alberto
Bachelet Martínez
|
Father
|
Gen. Fernando
Matthei Aubel
|
Worked for Allende’s
Food Distribution Program; imprisoned by Pinochet regime; died in prison
|
Father’s Political History
|
Health Minister
under Pinochet; Member of Military Junta prior to Chile’s return to democracy
|
Major economic
policy is to increase taxes and eliminate tuition to combat inequality
|
Economic Policies
|
Continue the
economic policies of Piñera which
have kept inflation and unemployment low while steadily raising GDP
|
~20,000
|
Twitter Followers
(as of July 24)
|
~15,000
|
Following presidential candidate Pablo Longueira's withdrawal from the presidential race and subsequent internal strife, the Alianza coaltion of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI) and the National Renewal (RN) decided to name Minister of Labor Eveyln Matthei their presidential candidate. Ms. Matthei will face off against Michelle Bachelet in what will be the first Chilean presidential race between two women.
However, the odds will be stacked up against Ms. Matthei. Ms. Bachelet served as president beginning in 2006 and finishing her term in 2010 with a nearly 85% approval rating; the Chilean Constitution forbids consecutive terms. Prior to Mr. Longueira's withdrawal, one poll claimed Ms. Bachelet had 39% of the vote while Mr. Longueira was second with 25%. The remaining percentage was divided among other candidates.
Ms. Matthei's campaign will certainly attack Ms. Bachelet's slow response to the 2010 Chilean earthquake during her first term. In addition, Ms. Matthei is a fervent supporter of President Piñera's economic policies which have kept inflation low and recorded a 5% growth in GDP in 2012.
Unfortunately, student protests against the Piñera administration for maintaining the privatization of many universities will likely be a boon for Ms. Bachelet. In fact, Ms. Bachelet has come out in support of raising taxes to make college tuition free for Chilean citizens. This is one of the many policies on the Bachelet platform to combat the growing inequality under the Piñera administration.
In addition, the fathers of both Ms. Bachelet and Ms. Matthei became high-ranking officials of the Chilean army, who become good friends when they were stationed at the same base. General Alberto Bachelet was a fervent supporter of Salvador Allende. Following the coup of 1973, the Pinochet government, for which General Fernando Matthei served as Health Minister, called for Gen. Bachelet's exile. He refused and was imprisoned where he would die not long after. Gen. Matthei would remain as part of the military junta until democracy was restored in 1990.
Michelle Bachelet and her mother were detained following the coup and were subject to torture. Eventually they gained asylum in Australia. Ms. Bachelet spent much of her exile in East Germany studying medicine before finally returning to Chile in 1979 and finishing her degree. During this time Ms. Matthei became a renowned economist within Chilean academia before moving to the government.
Ultimately, it will be difficult for Ms. Matthei to make a lot of ground on the popular Bachelet. Social inequality has become a major issue this election cycle which should buoy Ms. Bachelet to a comfortable victory. In addition, Matthei will find it difficult to earn the trust of the right-wing National Renewal party, who considered running Andrés Allamand runner-up in the recent primary. The only question may be whether Ms. Bachelet can avoid a December runoff with Ms. Matthei by earning over 50% in the November election.
