Chile is a nation haunted by authoritarian regimes and past human rights abuses far in excess of anything that George W. Bush has done at home. It is also an overwhelmingly Catholic nation. But, it elected Michelle Bachelet, an atheist, a doctor and a victim of torture under the prior regime, as its President. It is nice to see that conventional wisdom can be wrong and that the impossible can happen once in a while.
In the same vein, the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as President of war torn Liberia, "carving her name into history as Africa's first elected female head of state" also deserves notice.
Both women ran primarily on campaigns of focusing on improving the internal affairs of their respective countries.
It is not surprising to those of us whose attention is on the culture, history, and literature of the Latin American countries. Chile has always had a history of democracy, despite its turmoil in the 70's (where it faced either a military or socialist totalitarian regime). Both sides have moderated.
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