Violence against women in all its forms is a human rights violation. It's not something that any culture, religion or tradition propagates.

I was a woman, a divorcee, a socialist, an agnostic . . . all possible sins together.

By including women in decision-making, city governments will be in a better position to fulfill their responsibility to ensure the safety of their residents, especially women and girls.

For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.

In the eyes of many business leaders, there is never an opportune moment for tax reform. Yes, the economy is losing momentum, but that is not because a handful of people are losing their privileges. Slow growth did not first begin during my term in office; the market downturn is making itself felt around the world. My government has responded with an agenda aimed at raising productivity. We are also investing substantially in infrastructure - the plan calls for €20.5 billion or $26.3 billion by 2021.

Having been a head of state gives you the possibility of getting into places others can't go.

We need to reform the constitution in Chile. The current one was written and passed in 1980 during the dictatorship. Some changes were made after the return of democracy, but its origins remain illegitimate. Instead of continuing to make fixes here and there, we need to undertake fundamental changes to our constitution to make it reflect the reality of our democratic society.