Presidentas and Mujeres as Heads of States in Latino-América

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Saturday March 19, 2016 · 8:04 AM PDT

2016/03/19 · 08:04

Excelencia, señora María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón, expresidenta de Argentina

As I ponder through my Latin American History and remember learning and hearing of amazing women, of different political leanings, leading for decades in different Latin countries. It dawned on me how some cultures believe AND admire strong leadership regardless of gender. Alas, for some reason it seems our EEUU ( USA) is behind on the times. (not for long)

Now, If you look at the world as a whole you would be more shocked, this PEW map is very telling

As I look at the map I am amazed at the "pockets" of countries with female leaders and the sad state of all those countries colored beige. This map does exclude figurehead monarchs. Although this Diary will focus on my Latinas, we cannot forget those deep green countries; Corazón Aquino, Indira Gandhi,Mary Robinson, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and Khaleda Zia & Sheikh Hasina

The first female president, in the world, was the woman in the mail picture María Isabel Perón.

Unfortunately I could not embed this amazing timeline located here

According to the Diplomatic Courier

Since the 1970s, eight of the 29 women elected as president in the world have come from Latin America or the Caribbean, and the Americas has the world’s second-highest regional average of women in the lower houses on Congress – about 24 percent – behind Scandinavia at 42 percent, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

Argentina lead the world with the first female president in Herstory María Isabel Perón. She wasn't elected as she took over her husband's position as his VP when he died; Was later deposed by a military government (let's say she wasn't a role model as a ruling woman).

The list is remarkable because of the historical context and because of these woman's biography

María Isabel Martínez Cartas de Perón- Argentina, 1974
Lidia Gueiler Tejada- Bolivia, 1979
Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro, Nicaragua, 1990
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano de Fernández de Córdova, Ecuador, 1997
Mireya Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias, Panamá, 1999
Michelle Bachelet, Chile, 2006 ( re-elected in 2013/not consecutive terms)
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina, 2007
Laura Chinchilla Miranda, Costa Rica, 2010
Dilma Vana Rousseff, Brazil, 2011

Chile gave us the first democratically elected female president :

In 2006, Michelle Bachelet become Chile’s first female elected president. She became the first female elected president in Latin America….. who was not the wife of a previous head of state… (Other sources say Nicaragua's Chamorro has that title, but this is not a competition)

This does not take away from those who were the wives of former Presidents, this information is just historical fact for Latin America in which the population felt safe having the wife of a deceased/ex male President continue his job and did not consider that action to be "dynastic" or "oligarchic" ( There is though, a peculiar phenomenon of Spain's ex colonies. We refer to that country as La Madre Patria/The Mother Country, which could reflect how our culture looks towards the feminine leadership and guidance).

With all the talk of how our culture is knee deep in machismo, and don't get me wrong it has long traditions of patriarchy and machismo, there is a very enlightened societal view of females as leaders. Now…

You'll have to forgive my Chilean bias in this Diary, but my parents were born there and I lived in Santiago for 15 years in between my life here in the US. In 2008 Hillary Clinton wrote an opinion piece about Presidenta Bachelet

This was a woman who had overcome so much herself, rising to become Health Minister and then Defense Minister — the first woman in Latin America to ever hold such a post. And I remember thinking how wonderful it would be for a woman to break through yet another barrier — and to help her country break through barriers too.

Count me among the inspired.

Gallup tested the waters of Latin American voters:

More importantly, public opinion in Latin America is extremely accepting of female leaders. Gallup polling in Latin America in 2000 revealed that 90 percent of Latin Americans would be willing to vote for a qualified female president, and 69 percent believed their nation would elect a female president in the next 20 years. Carballal was not surprised at these statistics, stating, “Many of the Latin American leaders of today share the experience of coming of age during the painful period of the military dictatorships of the 1970’s and 1980’s. That formative period was characterized by a rejection of traditional forms of leadership and a more inclusive form of politics that didn’t focus on gender or class as a condition to hold an important political role.”

AHA! Yes… all those dictatorships we had down down south. Another article mentions our history with dictators for the rise of women in leadership roles in Latin America

Political scientists and historians also point out that military dictatorships throughout Latin America from the late ’60s through the ’80s played a role in politicizing women, which led to the formation of women’s organizations that sought to extend human and citizens’ rights, such as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina.

Also, many of these countries are making way for future leaders by using different forms of quotas, which in my opinion, is the best way for women in countries with machismo to bring them to the front of leadership.

To help solve the problem of gender inequality, 12 Latin American countries have implemented a form of quota system in order to increase the number of women in government positions. A form of affirmative action, quota systems vary in purpose and power. There are two different types of quotas: a percentage that must be met when presenting candidates for a government position; and a percentage of seats that must be filled by women. Some constitutions (those of Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua) mention equality of men and women; Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador have all implemented a quota system, but the minimum quota in each country is 30 percent––in other words, not even close to equal.

These are some reasons I think we Latinos are open and embrace female leaders, but I think this is also why I think many of us are iffy when we hear candidates say "Revolution", my personal gut reaction to that word is not a positive one, and I have been sprayed with sewage water by Chilean's police "Guanacos" protesting against Pinochet. That is topic for another diary.

Hillary is very aware of this phenomenon and had this to say

Clinton said there have been enormous gains in Latin America since a 1988 visit she made to Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, where she spoke about women's leadership.

"I believe firmly that no region in the world, no region, is more important to our long-term prosperity and security than Latin America," Clinton said to applause.

…

"I know there are Americans who only think of Latin America as a land of crime and coups. They're very out of date," she said.

"They want to return to a failed policy on Cuba and cut our ties instead of strengthening them. They talk about deportation and walls, instead of recognizing that America's diversity is our greatest strength and supporting meaningful reform that will keep families together, benefits all of us," she said.

So, is it time for Los Estados Unidos to get with the times? although Latinos/Hispanics are not monolithic we do have a common sense of history, origin, and struggles.

Yo creo

Yo espero

Yo añoro

Perdono pero nunca olvido

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me dio dos luceros que cuando los abro
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado Y en las multitudes el hombre que yo amo

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me ha dado el oído que en todo su ancho
Graba noche y día grillos y canarios
Martillos, turbinas, ladridos, chubascos Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me ha dado el sonido y el abecedario
Con él, las palabras que pienso y declaro
Madre, amigo, hermano Y luz alumbrando la ruta del alma del que estoy amando

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos
Playas y desiertos, montañas y llanos Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me dio el corazón que agita su marco
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano
Cuando miro el bueno tan lejos del malo Cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros

Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto Me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto
Así yo distingo dicha de quebranto
Los dos materiales que forman mi canto
Y el canto de ustedes que es el mismo canto
Y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto Gracias a la vida, gracias a la vida

-Violeta Parra (Chile)