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VALPARAISO, Chile Mar 12 (AP): Socialist pediatrician Michelle Bachelet, who suffered prison, torture and exile under Chile's military dictatorship, was sworn in as the nation's first female president on Saturday and promised to heed the voices of all Chileans.
"I want a government in which citizens have an active participation," the 54-year-old told residents of the town of Casablanca shortly after her inauguration. "A government at the service of people."
Bachelet, who was elected in a January 15 runoff, took her oath before Senate President Eduardo Frei at the crowded Hall of Honor of Chile's Congress in this port city near Santiago, applauded by hundreds of people, including most of the leftist leaders that recently have come to power in South America.
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