La Presidenta Nueva

These past couple of weeks in Santiago have been filled with many big political and cultural events such as the musical tours of U2 and Santana as well as a speech given by Bolivian president, Evo Morales. But the event that has caused the most commotion, and rightly so, is the inauguration of the first woman president in Chile as well as in all of South America. This past weekend was the official 'change of command' and the streets, buses, and subways were filled with people anxious to witness some important Chilean history.

The official inauguration was held in Valparaiso, a few hours away from Santiago, on Saturday afternoon. But thousands gathered in Santiago around La Moneda (the presidential palace) in central Santiago on Saturday evening to witness Michelle Bachelet's return to the capital city. The atmosphere was electric and people waved flags, shouted patriotic chants and bought political buttons, sashes, hats and balloons to show their support of Bachelet.



When the motorcade finally arrived, loads of confetti and balloons were released from tops of buildings and everyone scrambled for a glimpse of the president. Bachelet entered La Moneda and gave a speech from one of the balconies. The political atmosphere was very personal - it felt like there was barely any security and it was hard to believe that not far from me, speaking from a balcony, was the new president of Chile.

Overall, it seems the people support Bachelet. And it is exciting to see the women of the country step forward and stand tall in a very masculine-dominated society. It is very interesting to note the differences in the presidencies as well. For example, to refer to the previous male president, Chileans use the last name, "Lagos." But to refer to the current president everyone uses the first name, "Michelle." In addition, this is the first time that the word 'president' in Spanish has the form of the feminine gender such that "presidente" changes to "presidenta."

After the ceremony the group of exchange students and I were sitting and waiting for the crowd to clear when a television cameraman stopped to ask us where we were from. When we told him we were from the United States he wondered what we were doing at such a Chilean event. He then asked us if he could interview us on our opinions on some of the United States foreign policies with Chile for a PBS documentary. I didn’t have much to say, but the rest of the students did as they came to Chile to specifically study international relations and political science.

On Sunday night the city hosted a huge musical celebration in honor of the new president. A group of students and I went to enjoy the festivities and watch as over 200,000 Chileans met to wave flags, shout and sing political chants, and dance to many different kinds of South American music. It has been a privilege as well as an entertaining opportunity to participate in a country’s history along with the rest of its population.