SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The mother - and once fellow inmate - of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, now the U.N.’s human rights chief, died Thursday in Chile at age 93, the country’s Air Force announced.
Ángela Jeria Gómez was imprisoned along with Bachelet by the military regime that staged a coup in 1973, and both were tortured before being released and heading into exile.
Jeria Gómez’s husband, Air Force Gen. Alberto Bachelet, died in prison after being tortured by the regime, which suspected him of being loyal to ousted socialist President Salvador Allende.
The Air Force said Jeria Gómez had entered a military hospital on Wednesday in a “delicate state of health,” though it did not specify her illness.
Jeria Gómez and Bachelet lived in Australia and then East Germany before returning to Chile in 1979, and Jeria Gomez worked with human rights groups.
The dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet left power in 1990 and Bachelet became president xx years later, serving until 2010. She was reelected for a second term from 2014 to 2018.
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