By FEDERICO QUILODRAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 6, 2006; 10:29 PM
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Michelle Bachelet will be celebrated in Washington this week by fellow free-trader George Bush and a who's who of powerful women. But critics at home say their new president has struggled in her first leadership test, giving in too easily to violent student protests.
Her response to the demonstrations was a new turn for a Latin America known for tough male leaders: Tenderly addressing students on live TV, she declared their grievances "fully legitimate" and promised costly reforms.
Bachelet showed such empathy that one newspaper dubbed her tactics the "mommy" approach.
Supporters say the president struck exactly the right tone in dealing with angry protesters demanding financial help for poor students and federal cash to even out regional differences in spending on schools.
But critics think Bachelet waited too long to get involved and then conceded too easily in offering programs that will cost an additional $200 million through next year. They say her actions encouraged students to escalate a strike that has shut down schools for three weeks and brought stone-throwing clashes, tear gas and water cannons to the streets.
The protests have continued despite her conciliatory TV appearance Thursday and a harsher declaration Monday from Bachelet, who said "the truth is that a strike isn't necessary." Her finance minister, Andres Velasco, said no further concessions would be granted.
But by that evening, 600,000 striking high school students had been joined by college students and Education Ministry workers, and police made 200 more arrests.
Late Tuesday, student leaders announced after hours of debate among themselves that the protests would continue, saying they still demand a greater role in drafting education reforms.
Earlier in the day, about a dozen students briefly occupied U.N. offices in Santiago, calling for international intervention and delivering a list of demands to UNESCO director Anal Luiza Machado before departing.
Bachelet's supporters argue no president _ male or female _ could have ended the protests sooner. But the honeymoon may be over for the 54-year-old socialist, a pediatrician three months into her term as the first woman elected president in Latin America without a powerful spouse.
Tough challenges also are on the menu for Bachelet's lunch with President Bush at the White House on Thursday.
Foremost is U.S. pressure to vote against Venezuela getting a U.N. Security Council seat. Her eventual decision will anger either Chile's top trading partner or neighbors like Argentina that back the U.N. bid by Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader, Hugo Chavez.
Bush also wants Chile to stop opposing immunity from international prosecution for U.S. soldiers charged with human rights violations or other crimes. Under U.S. federal law, Chile's position risks military sanctions, including the denial of pilot training for the F-16 fighter jets the United States is about to deliver.
Bachelet supports free-market economic policies while seeking a stronger safety net for the poor and elderly, giving her more in common with Brazil's moderate leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, than the populist Chavez. But she says there is no reason to "demonize" Chavez.
Bachelet also has declined to comment on the decision by radical socialist President Evo Morales of Bolivia to nationalize natural resources there.
Rather, she urges fellow leaders "to watch our language," a clear reference to Chavez, who regularly calls Bush an alcoholic, a terrorist and an imperialist.
Her effort to find consensus is perhaps the most striking aspect of her presidency, distinguishing her in a male-dominated world. It also helps explain the diverse guest list at a dinner in Bachelet's honor Thursday. Among those expected to attend are Sen. Hillary Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and U.S. Rep. Katharine Harris.
The president has commanded up to 68 percent approval ratings in opinion polls, but Chileans seem more closely divided over her handling of the student strike.
Some, like magazine seller Jose Perez, praised her "understanding" approach to the students.
Others fretted that she is being too soft. "The president is weak," said Doris Hernandez, who voted for Bachelet. "She should have been much more forceful."
But Bachelet has long shown tenacity during her rise in conservative, male-dominated Chile, surviving imprisonment and torture during the bloody 1973 coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet and later riding herd over the military as defense minister.
Aides say she is firmly in charge, even while making public shows of empathy with the electorate.
They say her education concessions are in line with her campaign pledges to improve Chile's unequal schools, which are widely considered an impediment to the nation's economic success.