Yanukovich offers Ukraine protesters nothing as Russian aid starts

By Richard Balmforth

KIEV (Reuters) - A $15 billion Russian aid package for Ukraine began to take shape on Thursday as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich went public in defense of the deal, but offered no concessions to persuade thousands of protesters to leave the streets.

In his first public appearance since agreeing the deal with Moscow, he argued that securing cheaper gas and credits from Russia had been the only way to avoid default.

Soon after, his government issued a $3 billion two-year eurobond whose terms corresponded exactly to those of a bond that Russia had said it would buy as part of a $15 billion lifeline to help its former Soviet ally out of economic crisis.

But, in a televised news conference lasting more than 1-1/2 hours, he showed no readiness to meet opposition leaders' demands for the resignation of his government or early elections. He said their actions were "revolutionary".

His only slightly conciliatory gesture was to say that he would not run for re-election in 2015 if he felt he might lose.

"If my ratings are low and I have no prospects (of winning), then I shall not get in the way of the country developing and moving forward," he told a questioner.

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Pro-European integration protesters form the Ukranian word "Lustration" at Independence Sq …

Unrest erupted in Kiev after Yanukovich decided on November 21 to walk away from a trade deal with the European Union. Weekend rallies, sometimes drawing hundreds of thousands people, have been boosted by opposition charges of police violence.

Yanukovich implied that police would not use force again to try to disperse the demonstrators, up to 2,000 of whom are camping in Kiev's Independence Square. But he made no attempt to reach out to them to try to defuse the crisis.

"REVOLUTIONARY ACTIONS"

"Personal ambitions have to be kept in check. I am categorically against the politicians who have initiated revolutionary actions," Yanukovich said.

The main opposition leaders - boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and far-right nationalist leader Oleh Tyahnybok - say they will try to keep people on the streets over the New Year holiday.

With his popularity at a low after four weeks of unrest, Yanukovich indicated he had no intention of agreeing to an early presidential election before the due date in early 2015.

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Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich takes part in a news conference in Kiev, December 19, 2013 …

"We have a constitution and law - wait for the elections and the Ukrainian people will have the last word," he told opposition leaders.

Many of the protesters are from western and central Ukraine where opposition parties are strongest. A vast New Year's tree looms over their camp, festooned with graffiti attacking Yanukovich and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as a huge portrait of Yanukovich's arch-rival, jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Several hundreds more are occupying Kiev's City Hall.

Russia agreed on Tuesday to buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian Eurobonds and cut the price of gas supplies, weeks after Yanukovich unexpectedly spurned a trade pact with the EU.

The opposition has accused Yanukovich of selling out Ukraine's European future.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin portrayed the bailout as an act of brotherly love to stave off economic crisis and denied it had been undertaken for geopolitical reasons to keep Ukraine out of Europe's clutches.

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Pro-European integration protesters form the Ukranian word "Lustration" at Independence Sq …

"BROTHER NATION"

"Ukraine is in difficult straits ... if we really say that they are a brother nation and people, then we must act like close relatives and help," Putin told journalists.

Yanukovich looked tense at the start of his meeting with local journalists but gradually relaxed and, by the end, was exuding end-of-year goodwill.

Though he repeated the line that integration with Europe remained Ukraine's strategic course, he attacked Western politicians for coming down on the side of the protesters.

U.S. assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are among Western politicians to have visited Independence Square.

"It is very important that other countries do not interfere in our internal questions, that they do not consider that they are the masters here," he said.

He again promised that an investigation into claims of police violence against young protesters on November 30, which caused outrage and triggered the first huge rally in Kiev.

"We have to draw conclusions so that this is not repeated again," he said.

Despite being buffeted by the protests, Yanukovich still appears firmly in command. His allies control parliament, though the opposition was still threatening to block proceedings on Thursday, and the security forces remain loyal.

Ukraine's super-wealthy 'oligarchs', while sitting on the fence, have not made any signs of withdrawing support.

But unless Yanukovich can demonstrate that the Russian aid is boosting the economy and living standards, he may find it hard to secure re-election in a free and fair vote in 2015. A draft budget issued on Thursday showed Ukraine expects economic growth of 3 percent in 2014, after five quarters of shrinkage.

(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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Republican takes large lead in Alabama special congressional election

By Kaija Wilkinson

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - A business-backed Republican lawyer captured 68 percent of the vote against his Democratic opponent on Tuesday in an Alabama congressional race, with 85 percent of precincts reporting.

Bradley Byrne, 58, declared himself the winner over Democrat Burton LeFlore in a special election to replace Republican Representative Jo Bonner, who in May announced he was resigning to take a job at the University of Alabama.

Last month, Byrne, an attorney and former state lawmaker, defeated a Tea Party rival in a close primary race in Alabama's 1st congressional district that highlighted the intraparty tensions between the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement.

Byrne's $1.1 million campaign was backed by big corporate donors, including Home Depot Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. LeFlore raised only about $7,000, according to campaign finance reports.

The 1st congressional district includes Mobile, Alabama's third-largest city after Birmingham and Montgomery, the state capital.

A victory would return Byrne, a former college chancellor and state school board member, to public office. He served as state senator from 2002 to 2010, and he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican gubernatorial primary won by current Governor Robert Bentley.

LeFlore, a real estate agent, is the grandson of Mobile civil rights leader and state representative John LeFlore.

Byrne's campaign also won endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association and the National Right to Life Committee, while Democratic national organizations have largely stayed out of the race.

Byrne describes himself as a fiscal conservative who favors small government. He has campaigned in part against President Barack Obama's healthcare law, which LeFlore supports while saying some minor tweaks are needed. LeFlore has also called for cuts in military spending.

Analysts had predicted a low voter turnout in the election.

The winner will be in office for less than a year, as the seat will be contested again during the 2014 congressional elections.

(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Gunna Dickson and Lisa Shumaker)

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Republican heavy favorite in Alabama special congressional election

By Kaija Wilkinson

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Voters in southwest Alabama are expected to elect a business-backed former Republican state senator on Tuesday in a special election to fill a congressional seat that no Democrat has held in nearly 50 years.

Attorney Bradley Byrne, 58, defeated a Tea Party rival last month in a close primary race in Alabama's 1st congressional district which highlighted the intraparty tensions between the Republican Party's establishment and more ideological wing that emerged after the government shutdown.

Byrne, whose $1.1 million campaign is backed by big corporate donors, including Home Depot and Wal-Mart, is running against Democrat Burton LeFlore, a candidate who has raised only about $7,000, according to campaign finance reports.

The special election is being held after Congressman Jo Bonner, after a decade of service, announced his resignation in May to take a job at the University of Alabama. Bonner is one of three consecutive Republicans who have held the seat since 1965.

The 1st congressional district includes Mobile, Alabama's third largest city after Birmingham and Montgomery, the state capital.

A victory would return Byrne, a former college chancellor and state school board member, to public office. He served as state senator from 2002 to 2010, when he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican gubernatorial primary won by current Governor Robert Bentley.

LeFlore, a real estate agent, is the grandson of Mobile civil rights leader and state representative John LeFlore.

Byrne's campaign has also won endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association and the National Right to Life Committee, while Democratic national organizations have largely stayed out of the race.

Byrne describes himself as a fiscal conservative who favors small government. He has campaigned in part against President Barack Obama's health-care law, which LeFlore supports while saying some minor tweaks are needed. LeFlore has also called for cuts in military spending.

Analysts say the election is likely to see low voter turnout.

The winner will be in office for less than a year, as the seat will be contested again during the 2014 congressional elections.

(Reporting by Kaija Wilkinson; Writing by Kevin Gray; editing by Gunna Dickson)

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Bachelet wins Chile election in a landslide, plans reforms

By Alexandra Ulmer and Rosalba O'Brien

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Michelle Bachelet was elected as Chile's president again on Sunday in a landslide victory that hands the center-leftist the mandate she sought to push ahead with wide-reaching reforms.

Bachelet won with about 62 percent support, the highest proportion of votes any presidential candidate has obtained since Chile returned to holding democratic elections in 1989.

Evelyn Matthei, the conservative candidate of the ruling Alianza coalition, conceded defeat after capturing just 38 percent of the vote, the right's worst performance in two decades.

Bachelet, who led Chile between 2006 and 2010 as its first female leader, will look to capitalize on her resounding win to make changes aimed at redressing persistent inequality in the world's top copper exporter.

"Today we embark on a new era ... Chile has decided it is the moment to begin deep transformation," she told crowds of cheering supporters waving flags and sounding horns outside the La Moneda presidential palace as dusk fell on a warm summer evening.

A physician by training, Bachelet is a moderate socialist and has promised 50 reforms in her first 100 days, once she takes office in March.

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Evelyn Matthei, presidential candidate of the Chilean conservative right-wing bloc, casts her ballot …

Her flagship policy is a hike in corporate taxes to 25 percent from 20 percent, to pay for social reforms that include a gradual move to free higher education.

Yet she is a long way from the hard-left radicalism that has shaped Venezuela and Argentina in recent years, and is closer to the pragmatic, business-friendly stance of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff.

Bachelet has committed to stick to the path of fiscal prudence that has characterized the economy of the Andean country in recent decades.

"There are two things we know that don't change in Chile," said political scientist Patricio Navia. "One is that we always have earthquakes. And the other is that since 1990 governments are fiscally responsible. That goes without question."

RELIEF, BUT NOT A SURPRISE

Bachelet's large margin of victory will come as a relief to her, if not a surprise.

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A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Santiago, December 1 …

Loved by many Chileans for her warm and personable style, her approval ratings were sky-high at the end of her first term. Constitutionally barred from seeking immediate re-election in 2009, she was the runaway favorite to win this year's vote since before she even launched her candidacy.

But it has not all been plain sailing. Her campaign suffered a setback last month, when the presence of eight other candidates fractured the first round vote and left her just short of the majority needed to seal the election outright.

Her opponent, Matthei, a brusque former labor minister, was a last-minute choice for Alianza in July and struggled to gain traction against Bachelet.

Hailing from the more conservative branch of the governing coalition, Matthei was tainted in the eyes of many Chileans by her association with the repressive 1973-1990 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Her father was a general in the ruling junta and she supported Pinochet in a 1988 plebiscite.

Dissatisfaction with President Sebastian Pinera's government also weighed on Matthei's campaign. Despite solid economic growth and plaudits for its fiscal responsibility, the government was seen as out of touch and slow to respond to demands for change.

Chile's free-market economy and copper-fueled growth have made it a Latin American success story in the last two decades. However, there are still sharp social divisions, illustrated by Sunday's vote in Santiago's upscale Las Condes district, where only 24 percent voted for Bachelet.

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Chilean presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet is greeted by a supporter before voting during the  …

A single mother who was a victim of torture during Pinochet's rule, Bachelet is seen as a "people's candidate".

"This triumph is a small step towards the changes that are coming to Chile," said 19-year-old education student Beatriz Jorquera as she joined the crowds outside La Moneda.

Bachelet returned to Chile earlier this year to run for the presidency after a spell heading the United Nations' gender equality body, U.N. Women.

Politically naive when she was elected eight years ago, she is now a more sophisticated operator and is in a better position to get things done, those close to her say.

Top of her list is reforming education. Good quality schooling is generally only available in Chile to those who can pay, and sometimes violent student protests demanding change have hurt the Pinera administration.

Bachelet also plans to change the Pinochet-era constitution and electoral system.

But her power will be constrained by a divided Congress. Despite losing seats in November's Congressional elections, Alianza still has a large enough majority to block at least electoral and constitutional changes.

There are some indications that they will be willing to bargain, but the price may be watered-down reforms.

The wide majority in Sunday's vote "will give her momentum going into government," said political scientist Kenneth Bunker. "But she's still going to have to negotiate in Congress."

The president-elect also faces high expectations from those who voted her in, and she is not likely to be given much of a honeymoon once her four-year term starts.

(Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero and Anthony Esposito. Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson)

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Newsmaker: Same charm, bolder plans win Bachelet a second term in Chile

By Alexandra Ulmer

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - When Michelle Bachelet became Chile's health minister under President Ricardo Lagos in 2000, he assigned her a daunting task: end the long lines at overwhelmed primary health care centers within three months.

Bachelet struggled to meet the deadline. Yet, when Lagos visited a medical center to survey the situation, a woman whisked him aside to praise Bachelet and beg him to keep her in his cabinet.

"I can't remember ever being told during my presidency not to get rid of a minister," a chuckling Lagos, who governed from 2000 to 2006, told Reuters in an interview. "Within a short period of time, Bachelet managed to forge a relationship with people. She's seen by some as the mother of all Chileans."

The pediatrician-turned-politician's efforts to improve health care and her warm style paved the way for her to succeed Lagos in office as Chile's first female president from 2006 to 2010.

That charisma, coupled with more ambitious policies to bridge steep economic inequality, helped the 62-year-old center-left politician win a second term in the La Moneda palace.

She captured roughly 62 percent of the vote on Sunday, the highest proportion of votes any presidential candidate has won since Chile returned to holding democratic elections in 1989.

A victim of torture under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet and a single mother of three, Bachelet was one of conservative Chile's most unusual presidents since its return to democracy in 1990.

She is beloved by many lower and middle-class women disenchanted with the political elite in Chile, which enjoys stability and growth but also has the worst income inequality of the 34 counties in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Critics say her popularity is too anchored in her personality, and many leftists, disillusioned with her moderate record of reform while in power the first time, are skeptical of her fresh promises.

Bachelet has pledged a reform blitz that includes raising corporate taxes to fund an education overhaul, changing the Pinochet-era constitution and legalizing abortion in some circumstances.

Many who feel marginalized from what some have called Latin America's shining economic success story are pinning their hopes on her.

Far from the gleaming skyscrapers and polished parks of affluent eastern Santiago, euphoric supporters in the low-income neighborhood of Cerrillos greeted Bachelet last month.

They fervently waved flags emblazoned with a big, simple 'M' as Bachelet rode in to the tune of her jingle 'Chile de todos,' or 'Chile for all,' blasting out from speakers.

"She's a fighter. It's what I value most," said Josefina Osorio, a 32-year old law student, shouting above the cheers. "She's back with new ideas."

Barred constitutionally from running for re-election at the end of her first term, Bachelet moved to New York to head U.N. Women, an agency aimed at improving the lives of women and girls.

Displaying her common touch, Bachelet said in an interview that one of the things she most enjoyed about living away from Chile was the freedom to go food shopping in Bermuda shorts. During the same program she danced with a popular television host to the rhythm of cumbia, a Colombian music genre popular throughout Latin America.

"She's got charisma. There's something about her ... She is the sum of her history," said political scientist Robert Funk. "(Chileans) don't just see her, they don't just see her government, they know her story, they see a single mother, they see the fact that she was arrested and tortured, and the fact that she's moved on and shows no rancor."

TORTURE, EXILE, MEDICINE

Some of her appeal stems from her life story.

As a young leftist, Bachelet's life was deeply marked by the coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973 and ushered in the brutal 17-year Pinochet rule.

Bachelet's father, an air force general loyal to Allende, was arrested the day of the coup and tortured by Pinochet's agents. He died in prison in 1974.

The following year, two secret police officers burst into the flat where Bachelet and her mother lived. The women were taken blindfolded to Villa Grimaldi, an infamous military-run center on the outskirts of Santiago where they too were tortured.

Once freed, she and her mother fled to Australia and later on to what was then East Germany. She returned to Chile in 1979.

In an astounding twist, Matthei is also the daughter of an air force general - but one who went on to be part of the Pinochet junta.

The two generals became very close in the years before the coup when they were neighbors on an air force base in northern Chile. Their daughters rode bikes and played together in the street, though they are not friends. Bachelet said she spontaneously called former general Fernando Matthei "uncle," a common term of endearment in Chile, when she saw him again recently.

TOO AGREEABLE?

Still, Bachelet's affable nature irks some people.

"Everything she says is ambiguous. Sure, we all want more justice, more love but ..." said David Altman, a political scientist at the Universidad Catolica. "She doesn't gamble when you have to gamble. She creates a commission for anything."

Critics point to her government's slow response to a devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit at the very end of her first term in 2010. The navy's catastrophe-alert system failed to warn of the ensuing tsunami and hundreds of people who survived the quake were killed by massive waves.

Many in Chile also question why Bachelet did not implement the policies she is now championing.

Former presidential candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami, a left-leaning economist and filmmaker who wooed some of the youth vote away from Bachelet to come in third in November's first-round election, says she "copied" his ideas, and called on Chileans to "vote for the original."

Another weak point is that Bachelet is not close with most political parties due to her time in exile and the fact that she was never a member of Congress, analysts say.

That could prove tricky as deft management of a notoriously challenging Congress will be crucial to ensure passage of her flagship reforms.

Expectations are sky-high.

"I want changes for the people, for young students, more opportunities for those of us who are lower-middle class," said Maximiliano Valdes, a 25-year-old electrician who said he voted for Bachelet in the first and second round of voting.

"The changes she's promised can be done."

(Reporting and writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Additional reporting by Rosalba O'brien; Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson)

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Bachelet easily wins Chile election, plans reforms

By Alexandra Ulmer and Rosalba O'Brien

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Michelle Bachelet was elected as Chile's president again on Sunday in a landslide victory that should hand the center-leftist the mandate she sought to push ahead with wide-reaching reforms.

With nearly 70 percent of votes counted, Bachelet had about 63 percent support, the highest proportion of votes any presidential candidate has won since Chile returned to holding democratic elections in 1989.

Evelyn Matthei, the conservative candidate of the ruling Alianza coalition, managed only 37 percent of the vote, the right's worst performance in two decades.

Bachelet, who led Chile between 2006 and 2010 as its first female leader, will look to capitalize on her resounding win to make changes aimed at redressing persistent inequality in the world's top copper exporter.

A physician by training, Bachelet is a moderate socialist and has promised 50 reforms in her first 100 days, once she takes office in March.

View gallery

Evelyn Matthei, presidential candidate of the Chilean conservative right-wing bloc, casts her ballot …

Her flagship policy is a hike in corporate taxes to 25 percent from 20 percent, to pay for social reforms that include a gradual move to free higher education.

RELIEF, BUT NOT A SURPRISE

Bachelet's campaign to return to La Moneda presidential palace suffered a setback last month, when the presence of eight other candidates fractured the first round vote and left her just short of the majority needed to seal the election outright.

So Sunday's large margin of victory will come as a relief, if not a surprise.

Approval ratings for Bachelet, loved by many Chileans for her warm and personable style, were sky-high at the end of her first term. Constitutionally barred from seeking immediate re-election in 2009, she has been the runaway favorite to win this year's vote since before she even launched her candidacy.

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A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Santiago, December 1 …

Her opponent Matthei, a brusque former labor minister, had been a last-minute choice for Alianza in July, and struggled to gain traction against Bachelet.

Hailing from the more conservative branch of the governing coalition, Matthei was tainted in the eyes of many Chileans by her association with the repressive 1973-1990 dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Her father was a general in the ruling junta and she supported Pinochet in a 1988 plebiscite.

Dissatisfaction with outgoing President Sebastian Pinera's administration also weighed on Matthei's campaign. Despite solid economic growth and plaudits for its fiscal responsibility, the government has been seen as out of touch and slow to respond to demands for change.

Chile's free-market economy and copper-fuelled growth have made it a Latin American success story in the last two decades. However, there are growing calls for its wealth and opportunities to be more equitably shared.

Bachelet is seen as a 'people's candidate' who is more likely to deliver this, a single mother who was a victim of torture during military rule.

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Chilean presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet is greeted by a supporter before voting during the  …

"I want changes for the people, for the young students, more opportunities for those of us from the lower middle class," said 25-year-old electrician and Bachelet voter Maximiliano Valdes.

Bachelet returned to Chile earlier this year to run for the presidency after a spell heading the United Nations' gender equality body, U.N. Women.

Politically naive when elected eight years ago, she is now a more sophisticated operator who is in a better position to get things done, those close to her say.

Top of her list is reforming education. Good quality schooling is generally only available in Chile to those who can pay, and sometimes violent student protests demanding change have hurt the Pinera administration.

Bachelet also plans to change the Pinochet-era constitution and electoral system.

But her power will be crimped by a divided Congress. Despite losing seats in November's Congressional elections, Alianza still has a large enough majority to block at least electoral and constitutional changes.

There are some indications they will be willing to bargain but the price of that may be watered down reforms.

The president-elect also faces high expectations from those who voted her in, and she is not likely to be given much of a honeymoon once her four-year term starts.

(Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson)

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Bachelet heads to easy victory in Chile election

By Alexandra Ulmer

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chileans were voting on Sunday in a runoff election likely to hand former President Michelle Bachelet a fresh four-year term, with the center-left leader gunning for a landslide triumph to bolster her reform mandate.

In Chile's first presidential showdown between two women, voters are expected to give overwhelming backing to Bachelet, who led the country from 2006 to 2010, impressed by her easy charm and plans to tackle deep income inequality.

Her right-wing rival, the sharp-tongued Evelyn Matthei, has been weakened by her family's ties to the 1973-1990 military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet and by her post in the unpopular government of outgoing President Sebastian Pinera.

In the first round of voting on November 17, Bachelet, a 62-year-old pediatrician by training, won nearly twice as many votes as Matthei, a 60-year-old economist and former labor minister. But Bachelet fell just short of the 50 percent needed to win outright, pushing the vote into a runoff.

The two women were playmates during their childhood on an air force base, though the bloody 1973 military coup later divided their families.

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Evelyn Matthei, presidential candidate of the Chilean conservative right-wing bloc, casts her ballot …

"This is not about choosing between 'two women', as the press likes to put it," Bachelet said in a closing campaign speech to hundreds of cheering supporters on Thursday.

"There are deep differences here. I think Chile is ready to face the transformations that will allow it to be the country we all want. We can turn Chile into a truly developed country."

Robust, copper-led economic growth has turned Chile into a Wall Street favorite, but many Chileans feel they have yet to see the fruits of the mining boom as wealth and power remain largely concentrated in the hands of a small elite.

Bachelet wants to hike corporate taxes to pay for a wide-ranging education reform, shred the dictatorship-era constitution, and legalize abortion under certain circumstances.

"I voted for Bachelet. I want changes for the people, for young students, more opportunities for those of us who are lower-middle class," said Maximiliano Valdes, a 25-year-old electrician. "The changes she's promised can be done."

View gallery

A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Santiago, December 1 …

There have been no major polls ahead of the run-off, mainly because Bachelet's victory has been taken for granted.

While there is little doubt about the overall outcome, analysts say this assumption could result in voter apathy and low turnout that could deny Bachelet the dramatic win she is looking for to pressure a notoriously tricky Congress to approve her reforms. Disillusion with politicians also runs high.

"Bachelet doesn't convince me. Neither of the two candidates convinces me," said Raquel Baeza, a 37-year-old accountant who didn't vote, preferring to go Christmas shopping in the center of Santiago. "I'm left-leaning, but I would have liked someone other than Bachelet. She just creates a committee to think about what to do, she doesn't do anything concrete."

Both candidates voted early on Sunday, likely to encourage their compatriots to do the same amid the Southern Hemisphere's December heat.

Bachelet was greeted by throngs of supporters, who leapt forward to kiss and photograph her. Matthei, on the other hand, had to deal with a small group of protesters, apparently demonstrating against the installation of a factory in their community.

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Chilean presidential candidate Michelle Bachelet is greeted by a supporter before voting during the  …

"My main call is for participation," Bachelet said after she cast her ballot. "With skepticism we can't produce the changes we need."

PARALLEL LIVES

Bachelet and Matthei were neighbors during their childhood on a base in northern Chile, where their fathers were air force generals who became close friends.

The girls rode bikes and played together in the street, according to a bestselling book about them.

But the military coup that ushered in the 17-year long Pinochet dictatorship affected them very differently.

Matthei's father became a key member of Pinochet's junta while Bachelet's father, loyal to deposed socialist President Salvador Allende, was arrested, tortured by Pinochet's agents and died in prison.

Bachelet and her mother were also tortured before fleeing into exile.

Matthei backed Pinochet in a 1988 plebiscite about his rule, a decision that has dogged her in this election campaign just as Chile commemorated the 40th anniversary of the coup.

In her closing campaign event on Thursday, Matthei linked Bachelet's reform drive to the far-left government of Venezuela.

"They want to change the constitution to resemble Venezuela, where every day it's harder to find food," Matthei said. "Does that remind you of anything?," she added, in an apparent reference to shortages of the Allende era.

She and Bachelet are not friends nowadays, though their connection was clear during a televised debate on Tuesday, when they referred to each other by their first names and the familiar Spanish form of "you."

Chileans can vote from 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) to 6 p.m. (2100 GMT). Results are due shortly after voting ends.

(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Kieran Murray and Sandra Maler)

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