At a campaign event for Michelle Bachelet in the northern Chile city of Arica yesterday, the former Chilean president and current presidential hopeful was spat on in the face by Elías Sanhueza, a second-year anthropology student at the University of Tarapacá (UTA). Chilean newspapers have reported that Sanhueza's actions were a form of protest related to the Mapuche and student causes, while an ex-mayor said the student was a member of the country's right-wing. Sanhueza has refused to speak about his motivations. He spent last night in jail and will be charged with disorderly conduct.
"I don't regret it, it was well deserved. Since 2006 that woman has been lying to people," Sanhueza told SoyChile.
"Someone who doesn't understand democracy attacked me, but I want to make completely clear to everyone that if they think they're going to scare me, they clearly don't know me," said Bachelet after the incident.
Sanhueza was reportedly beaten by members of Bachelet's entourage before the police placed him under arrest.
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The spokesman for Bachelet's campaign, Álvaro Elizalde, said it was a "minor incident" and indicated it wouldn't cloud the "affection" she felt for the place it occurred. Bachelet, a Social Democrat, became the first female president of the South American country in 2006, and left office in 2010 with high approval ratings. Chilean law does not allow presidents to serve consecutive terms. Recently she secured the support of Chile's small but key Communist Party in her bid for a second term as president, in exchange for letting the star student activist Camila Vallejo run for Congress without challenge from Bachelet's center-left party. Vallejo, however, has made clear that she does not support the center-left former president. The Communists' support comes as the various sectors of the Chilean left seek to take advantage of mounting demands for educational reform - when weighed against per capita income, Chileans pay among the highest rates in the world for college tuition - as well as for constitutional reforms guaranteeing protection of the environment, free schooling at the high school and elementary levels, and greater distribution of the nation's copper wealth.
Previously Bachelet had spent almost three years as the executive director of UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She is now a favorite to regain the presidency.
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