Chile: First woman president elected


But government set to continue neo-liberal policies

THE ELECTION of Michel Bachelet as the first woman to be elected
President of Chile has aroused big interest around the world.

Patricio Guzmán, Socialismo Revolucionario, Santiago, Chile (Translated by Kevin Simpson, London)

The newly elected President was an activist of the Socialist Party (Partido
Socialista – PS) from an early age. Bachelet was the daughter of a
left-wing Chilean air force general tortured to death in prison
following Pinochet’s 1973 military coup. Michel and her mother were
tortured and had to flee into exile. As a single mother (a situation
shared by many Chileans), this background has given her political
capital.

There are enormous expectations in the new government. Indeed many
people are hopeful that under this fourth Concertación government
[Coalition of Parties for Democracy – made up of the Christian
Democratic Party (PDC), Party for Democracy (PPD), Social Democrat
Radical Party (PRSD) and the Socialist Party (PS)] things will begin to
change in a more progressive direction.

Inequality

But there is another part of Bachelet’s political biography which
shows that the direction her government will take will be one of yet
another ‘neo-liberal’ Concertación government.

Michel Bachelet previously held the posts of Ministry of Defence and
of Health. But she singularly failed to put forward new or distinct
policies when she held these ministries and neither did she express any
differences with the neo-liberal policies of the Ricardo Largos [the
previous President and Socialist Party leader].

A paradox of all the Concertación governments is that they have
always raised the banner of social equality whilst at the same time the
concentration of wealth in the hands of a few has continued to increase.

As a result, Chile has a worse distribution of wealth than Ethiopia
and in Latin America is only surpassed by Brazil. 20% of the population
own 60% of the wealth.

Multinationals have increasingly deepened their penetration of the
Chilean economy and Bachelet has gone out of her way to make clear to
the Chilean and international bosses that the same rules of the "game"
will be maintained as before.

In the short term, developments will lead to people either feeling
disappointed, rebellious or frustrated. The elections have shown that
the main problem which confronts the working class is the lack of their
own political representation.

All the parties which previously portrayed themselves as being for
the "workers and poor masses" have been emptied of activists. The
Socialist Party has converted itself into a machine of "notables" who
have enriched themselves either through being directors of the old state
industries which are now privatised or by being part of the state
machine.

These parties have voluntarily abandoned rank and file organisation
and any resemblance of independent party activity, whilst the Communist
Party (Partido Comunista – PC) for its part has been reduced to the
remnants of a mass party.

The call made by the PC leadership to support Bachelet in the second
round of the elections showed that the party really does not have the
political will to fight against capitalism. In fact for the first time
in decades, the electoral turn by the PC leaders has led to a crisis
within the party’s left wing, particularly amongst the youth wing.

To avoid the inevitable disappointment with Bachelet’s presidency it
is necessary to urgently begin the task of building a new workers’
party. Such an organisation could put forward a democratic and socialist
programme independent of the coalitions which serve the ruling class,
the right wing Alliance and the Concertación.