A Woman's Place Is in the Presidential Mansion (women in Latin America)

[Thom Little]

For now, the ABC show Commander in Chief, which chronicles the rise of the United States' first female president, is pure fantasy. But a real-life version could soon materialize in the most unlikely of places: Latin America. On Dec. 10, Chile's former defense minister, Michelle Bachelet, came close to becoming the country's first female president, and she's expected to land the job after a runoff this month. That would make Bachelet the sole woman commander in chief in the hemisphere—and the first to rise to that lofty position strictly on her own merits. Unlike the three women who have previously been elected president in Latin America—Violeta Chamorro in Nicaragua, Janet Rosenberg Jagan in Guyana, and Mireya Moscoso in Panama—Bachelet's political rise was not facilitated by a politically powerful husband.

As it turns out, Bachelet isn't the only woman who is ascending the political hierarchy south of the border. In neighboring Peru, Congresswoman Lourdes Flores is favored to win April's presidential election, and Argentina's first lady, Cristina Kirchner, isn't just serving in the Senate, she's also touted as a potential successor to her husband. There is a sizable contingent of women serving in the region's legislatures, too. Since 1991, 12 Latin American countries have enacted quota laws that in some cases have doubled the number of female congressional representatives. (Click here to see which countries have quotas.) While in the United States women make up just 15 percent of the House of Representatives and 14 percent of the Senate, in Argentina and Costa Rica, women comprise fully one-third of the national congresses.

Given Latin America's well-deserved reputation for machismo, the rise of these leaders might seem like an extraordinary power shift. But when you look beyond sheer numbers, feminists will find less to celebrate. Whereas, for example, Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales has made his indigenous heritage a guiding principle of his political career, these female politicians tend to be conventional leaders. Political parties have been their gateways to power, and partly driven by a desire to preserve their relationships with powerful party patrons, they've done little to disturb the status quo. In effect, their gender hasn't had much impact on how they govern.

Ironically, the fact that female candidates look different from the traditional pol has helped propel them forward. Peru's Flores, for example, has benefited from the notion that women are less prone to corruption. (Given Peru's long history of on-the-take male chief executives, being tagged as an honest politician is a huge advantage.) Cristina Kirchner surrounded herself with images of Eva Perón when she was on the senatorial campaign trail last year; obviously, her gender made it easier to claim the mantle of Argentina's immensely popular former first lady. And Bachelet's rise to presidential front-runner can be at least partly attributed to the new face she brings to a political coalition that has ruled Chile since 1990. While voters often begin agitating for change after a decade and a half of the same leadership, Bachelet's status as a single mother who has never held elected office made the ruling Concertación coalition look innovative.



http://www.slate.com/id/2132943/