Latinas Lead New Revolución

Latin America is hardly crying for Argentines who elected Cristina Fernández de Kirchner president as the latest in the region's new wave of female leaders. Voters in countries still emerging from dictatorships and financial ruin are looking for new politicians, reports the NY Times, and Kirchner's election follows that of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Jamaican PM Portia Simpson-Miller.

The Times reports that electing women is sometimes seen as a way to break from corrupt male leaders (although Fernández was elected largely to continue her husband's policies). Several countries have also quotas mandating a certain percentage of women in the legislature. “The integration of women in leadership roles,” Bachelet said, “is here to stay.” (More women stories.)