Rival Chilean presidential candidates share common past

Rival Chilean presidential candidates Michelle Bachelet and Evelyn Matthei share more than politics: they played together as children and saw their lives turned upside down by a coup. Their families were neighbors at the Cerro Moreno air base decades ago and it was here that the two, aged just six and four, would sometimes ride their bikes together. Their fathers, both generals, were close and shared a love for the same music and books. But everything changed on September 11, 1973, when a coup overthrew Socialist president Salvador Allende and brought dictator Augusto Pinochet to power. Bachelet's father Alberto, loyal to Allende, was arrested that same day and eventually tortured to death. Fernando Matthei, meanwhile, sided with Pinochet and -- as irony would have it -- became the head of the facility where his friend was held. Now, years later, Bachelet, a socialist, faces off on November 17 against her one-time playmate and the only right-wing candidate for the top post following a series of withdrawals. The election encompasses "extraordinarily dramatic and incredible elements, from a common childhood in the 50s to candidacies for the presidency from opposing camps," journalist Rocio Montes told AFP. "Someone said one of the great mysteries of Chilean politics is whether this is accidental or a product of history," added Montes, co-author of book titled "Hijas de General" (Spanish for "Generals' Daughters"). While they weren't great friends or in the same class due to their age difference, growing up on a military base instilled in both of them a sense of order, duty and a love of learning. Bachelet, seen as the favorite in the race, was deeply influenced by her father's death in March 1974 of a heart attack following months of abuse. Detained and tortured herself, Bachelet developed a political drive that propelled her to become the first woman president of the South American country between 2006 and 2010 after years in exile. A doctor by training, Bachelet has also served as the executive director of UN Women, a United Nations body focused on promoting gender equality. Her competitor Matthei was in London at the time of the Pinochet coup since that was where her father was posted. Following piano studies, she turned her focus to economics once back home. During the final years of the Pinochet dictatorship, which left at least 3,200 dead, she was active in one the parties that backed the regime. In 1993, she failed in a bid for the presidency, finding herself ensnared in a wiretapping scandal alongside current President Sebastian Pinera, which temporarily stalled both of their political careers. Matthei went on to become a member of parliament and then a senator. And in 2011, Pinera asked her to take up the post of labor minister. With a month to go before they face off, the two candidates have been silent on their common and painful past -- and Bachelet seems to have little taste for revenge. Her family, like the country's legal authorities, feels that Fernando Matthei was not directly responsible for what happened to those imprisoned at the military academy where Alberto Bachelet was detained and died. His widow and Bachelet's mother, Angela Jeria, has even publicly defended him. "She defends him because she is convinced that he is not responsible for the death of her husband," said Nancy Castillo, co-author of "Hijas de General." In 1979, Matthei reached out to the widow and daughter of his former military comrade, vouching for their return to Chile after five years in exile. Today, he is openly sorry about not having helped his friend evade his dire fate. "Caution took precedence over courage," he said, according to Montes and Castillo.