Agnostic Leader Update

As some of you already know Chili recently elected an agnostic female president, Michelle Bachelet. She has vowed to fill 50 percent of all positions, starting with her cabinet, with qualified women. On Saturday, March 11, the day of her official inauguration, she introduced and swore in her 20 cabinet ministers, 10 of them women. It was a sight to behold.

Because Michelle is agnostic, and what I would call a freethinker, I have hope that she will create a stir in the eyes of the conservative leadership that exists here in the US and in many leading western countries. From the little bit of news I’ve been able to read on Michelle, it all seems very promising.

Funding for social improvements
In April she defended a bill that maintains the current 19 percent sales tax to support her planned social improvements. The VAT (value-added sales tax) would expire in 2007 and revert to the previous 18 percent. Bachelet justified the step, saying “one percentage point of VAT means 600 million dollars.”

Anti-Corruption Initiative
The Chilean government has asked civil servants to declare their assets and interests as part of an anti-corruption effort initiated by President Michelle Bachelet, a government spokesman said in April.

I think this is a great first step in the war against corruption. I can’t say there is any effort in the US government to stop corruption.

Volunteer Army
She also announced a new plan to professionalize Chile’s Army and abolish obligatory military service within the next five to ten years. The program is part of a general trend to modernize Chile’s entire Armed Forces.

“The idea is to have a professional Army with fewer conscripts and more professionals,” said Bachelet during her visit to the Buin First Infantry Regiment on Tuesday. The president was accompanied by Army Commander in Chief General Oscar Izuriet and Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot.

Fighting Big Tobacco
In May she signed a law toughening this country's regulations on advertising, selling and consuming tobacco.

"Why is this law important? Because we know very well that tobacco is harmful to health and we know very well that there are not going to be enough doctors' offices or hospitals to attend to the (health) problems if we're not able to avoid them before they occur," the president said.

During the signing ceremony, which took place in a school in the capital neighborhood of Macul, Bachelet emphasized that the aim of the legislation is to harmonize Chile's internal regulations with the World Health Organization's framework agreement on tobacco control.

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Keep you posted on her progress.