VALPARAISO, March 11: Michelle Bachelet was sworn in on Saturday as Chile’s first woman president, ushering in a new era in the socially conservative country moving aggressively to shed the legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Bachelet, a doctor, single mother and former defence minister was sworn in by Senate speaker Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, and takes over from fellow socialist Ricardo Lagos.

Her government will extend the rule of the center-left coalition that has governed the South American country since the end of Pinochet’s regime in 1990.

Representatives from 120 countries were taking part in the ceremonies in the port city of Valparaiso.

She garnered 53.5 per cent of the vote in January’s election, seven points ahead of conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera, and won in all but one of the country’s 13 regions.

Bachelet, who has portrayed herself as an ordinary woman who understands the concerns of ordinary people, takes the helm of a country enjoying six per cent annual economic growth but the second-biggest gap between the rich and poor in Latin America.

According to her associates, Bachelet is an indefatigable worker who sleeps little but enjoys parties and dancing. She is spontaneous, a straight-talker, affable and smiles easily, but at times can be stern.

Her suffering during the Pinochet regime has also won her sympathy from many people in a country still scarred by the 17-year dictatorship.

She and her parents were tortured during the military regime. Her father, Alberto Bachelet, was an adviser to Socialist president Salvador Allende, who was toppled by Pinochet in 1973. Tortured while in prison, Bachelet’s father died six months later.

In 1975, she and her mother were held for about two weeks at Villa Grimaldi, an infamous torture centre. The two women later fled, first to Australia and then to East Germany, where Bachelet completed her medical studies.—AFP