The ceremonial handover of presidential sash at the Parliament in Valparaiso marked Michelle Bachelet’s assuming the duty of Chile’s president.
Bachelet won the presidential elections in December 2013 with 62% of the votes, becoming Chile’s president for the second time. Her first term of office lasted 2006-2010 and she was the first woman in Chile’s history to perform that duty. After that, she was the executive director of UN Women.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić attended the ceremony along with numerous other delegations, including the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, the deputy prime ministers of Portugal, Great Britain, Spain and European Commission, as well as foreign ministers of Italy, France, Panama, New Zealand and Switzerland.