Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Latinas Lead New Revolución

Kirchner is the latest woman to take the reins in a Latin American country

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2007 2:30 PM CST
Email

(Newser) – 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.”

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, left, speaks in front of ILO Director General, Chilean Juan Somavia, right, during the 96th International Labor Organization, ILO, assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, June 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)
Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, left, speaks in front of ILO Director General, Chilean Juan Somavia, right, during the 96th International Labor Organization, ILO, assembly at the European...   (Associated Press)
Argentina's elected president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner makes the victory sign to supporters at her party's headquarters in Buenos Aires, in this Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007 file photo. Fernandez de Kirchner won the presidency by a large enough margin to avoid a runoff. She is the first woman in Argentina...
Argentina's elected president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner makes the victory sign to supporters at her party's headquarters in Buenos Aires, in this Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007 file photo. Fernandez de Kirchner...   (Associated Press)
Argentina's presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, right, and President Nestor Kirchner, wave to supporters at their headquarters in Buenos Aires, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fernandez won the presidency Sunday last week to become the nation's first female leader. (AP Photo/Daniel Luna)
Argentina's presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, right, and President Nestor Kirchner, wave to supporters at their headquarters in Buenos Aires, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007. Fernandez won...   (Associated Press)
Argentina's newly elected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, attends a ceremony at the governmental palace Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007. Her husband Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner, unseen, announced the craetion of a new sewage project during their first public appearance since the elections. Fernandez will take...
Argentina's newly elected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, attends a ceremony at the governmental palace "Casa Rosada" in Buenos Aires, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007. Her husband Argentina's President...   (Associated Press)
President of Chile Michelle Bachelet addresses the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, at the U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)
President of Chile Michelle Bachelet addresses the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, at the U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

A parallel rise in business and education
Houston Chronicle

Latin American female leaders talk HIV
Christian Today

 
Latin America • women • Portia Simpson Miller • Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner • Michelle Bachelet

More Newser Stories

Chavez Suggest US Gave World Leaders Cancer

Clinton Seeks to Defuse Falklands Spat

Rice Snubs Argentina in Trip South

Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne