Latin America: a pioneer in promoting women’s political participation

Progress and challenges for women politicians in the region

• Important and undeniable progress: Michelle Bachelet becomes President of Chile again on 11 March 2014, the second woman re-elected to that post in Latin America (after Cristina Fernández in Argentina). Polls indicate that Dilma Rousseff could also be re-elected in Brazil. Mexico recently approved a constitutional change requiring strict parity (50%-50%) between men and women on candidate lists, joining Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. But how fast and to what extent has progress really been made?

Published March 4, 2014