Bachelet's visit to the island

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has a unique perspective on Latin American governance, having been victim to one of its worst manifestations. During the 1970s Bachelet was tortured as a prisoner of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, then exiled from the country. Yet upon returning to Chile, she rose above: she worked first to become a doctor, then was named the nation’s Health Minister, later became the Minister of Defense (the first woman to hold that position in any Latin American country), and finally, of course, was elected presidenta. Last year TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2008.

It is precisely this history that made Cuban dissidents eager to meet with President Bachelet during her three-day visit to the Communist island this week. When she turned down their request, they bitterly reminded her that she, too, had been the victim of a dictatorship. Members of Bachelet’s own party in Chile largely agreed with this sentiment. Bachelet was the first Chilean President since Allende to visit Cuba, however, and her hope was to  “deepen regional integration (and) political dialogue.” In trying to normalize relations with the state, it makes unfortunate sense why she would refuse to meet with anti-regime dissidents.

After meeting with President Bachelet yesterday, Fidel Castro acknowledged her efforts toward a better relationship with the island (and her warm character), but effectively snubbed Chile by focusing his reflection of the day on age-old territorial disputes that benefited (and still benefit) Chile at Bolivia’s expense. Essentially then, Bachelet angered members of her own party and her natural allies in Cuba (dissident groups), and still did not appease Fidel. A successful trip? That will be clearer as the Chile-Cuba relationship evolves.