Aside from her native Spanish language, she also speaks, English, German, Portuguese and French. After a time of much upheaval and even exile during her childhood (her father and her family were tortured under charges of treason by the government of Salvador Allende, a former President of Latin America), the Bachelet family eventually returned to Chile. After Chile made a transition to democracy in 1990, Bachelet worked for the Ministry of Health’s West Santiago Health Service and was a consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Health Organization and the German Corporation for Technical Cooperation. In March 2000, Bachelet-virtually unknown at the time-was appointed Minister of Health by President Ricardo Lagos. In January 2002, she was appointed Minister of National Defense, becoming the first woman to hold the post in a Latin American country and one of the few in the world. In late 2004, Bachelet was established as the only CPD figure who might be able to defeat Joaquín Lavín and she was asked to become the Socialists’ candidate for presidency. Bachelet was sworn in as President of the Republic of Chile on March 11, 2006.
