On September 24, 2007, Michelle Bachelet, the first woman President of Chile, addressed the student body of Columbia University. Her speech was sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies and presented in conjunction with the World Leaders Forum which coincides with the UN meetings in New York.

President Bachelet, talked in general about the myriad of democratic styles in Latin America and the need for a pluralistic understanding of the unique strategies that each Latin American country must utilize to resolve their personal obstacles and opportunities. She stresses “participatory” democracy over “procedural” democracy in a quest to reduce income disparity between the rich and the poor.