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Michelle Bachelet stormed to victory in Chile's presidential election on Sunday and pledged to turn the country to the left.
She took 62 per cent of the vote in the run-off poll to conservative rival Evelyn Matthei's 37 per cent - the right wing's worst showing in two decades.
The leftist - who was president from 2006 to 2010 - swept to power on a raft of progressive policies including a £9 billion plan to overhaul education, improve healthcare and reduce the vast gap between rich and poor.
"The social and political conditions are here and at last the moment has arrived," she told cheering supporters.
"If I'm here it's because we believe that a Chile for everyone is necessary.
"It won't be easy, but when has it been easy to change the world?"
Incumbent rightwinger Sebastian Pinera, who will step down in March, has seen his popularity plummet on the back of mass student and worker demonstrations seeking to challenge the massive inequality left by Augusto Pinochet's neoliberal dictatorship.
That same movement helped Ms Bachelet to power.
Its leaders, including former Young Communist League leader Camila Vallejo, have been rewarded with seats in parliament.
The right was quick to argue that the 42 per cent turnout - the lowest since Chile's return to democracy - meant Ms Bachelet had no strong mandate to carry out her changes.
It was the first election since voter registration became automatic - increasing the register from eight million to 13.5 million - but with the change voting became optional.
Ms Vallejo, whose Communist Party was part of Ms Bachelet's New Majority coalition, dismissed claims that there would be a lack of mandate.
"I think there is also an intention to build a backdrop of illegitimacy to the election result by those who know they will be defeated," said the newly elected MP.
New Majority has slim majorities in both houses of parliament, which should allow Ms Bachelet to carry out much of her programme.
However, she will need to win over sections of the conservative opposition to garner the two-thirds majority necessary to overhaul the Pinochet-era constitution.
