Congratuations, Chile!

Chile inaugurated its new president: a woman, a socialist, a pediatrician, a single mom.. Some countries have all the luck.

In a country where the Roman Catholic Church wields great power, Ms. Bachelet is also openly agnostic, and when she took her oath of office she promised rather than swore to uphold the Chilean Constitution.

She also has promised a government that focuses on social equality and respect for human rights. Her immediate priorities, she indicated as a candidate, are a more just distribution of income and reform of the country's pension system, which is increasingly unpopular here.