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 SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - President Michelle Bachelet apologized Monday for failing to fix her capital's public bus system and promised to raise education spending by hundreds of millions of dollars.
"People have the right to be angry and anguished. I understand their indignation," said Bachelet, who devoted her second state-of-the-nation address to transportation problems and underfunded schools, issues that have sparked violent protests and sent her once-soaring approval ratings below 50 percent for the first time.
"It has been a bad, frustrating experience for a majority of Santiago residents, especially the poorer sectors," Bachelet said of the 100-day-old Transantiago system, which has left many neighborhoods without service.
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