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Elected or appointed female presidents in latin america

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Despite having a well known culture of machismo, Latin America has made huge strides in women's political representation. As of October 2024, 13 women in 11 countries[1]have served as constitutional president of their country.

Political Spectrum

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Most of these women are part of the pink tide movement. Leaders such as Bachelet, Fernandez de Kirchner, Rousseff, Castro, and Sheinbaum Pardo all fall under this movement. The Pink Tide movement is on the left of the spectrum and includes ideologies like

Jeanine Áñez after assuming power

socialism of the 21st century, democratic socialism, Left-wing populism, anti-neoliberalism, and left-wing nationalism. Although the majority of these women leaders are to the left of center, some classify themselves as centrists or conservatives. Bolivia's Jeanine Añez is an example of this. Apon assuming Bolivia's presidency during the 2019 Bolivian political crisis, held up a protestant bible as a symbol of conservatism. Other leaders such as Boluarte have been described as political chameleons.

Isabel and Juan Perón in Spain in 1972

Assumption of Power

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Isabel Martinez de Peron has the distinction of being the first woman in the world to hold the title of president of an any country, though not the first to be head of government. Rather than being elected to the position of president, she assumed the presidency following the death of president Juan Peron, under who she served both as First Lady, and vice president. This is a common situation. Of 13 women, 5 assumed the presidency in the absence of a president. These leaders include Peron, Gueiler, Arteaga, Añez, and Boluarte.

Election

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Of 13 individual women, 8 were elected to power at least once, the first being Violeta Chamorro in the 1990 Nicaraguan general election in which she defeated Daniel Ortega. 5 of these elected women fall under the pink tide movement as previously mentioned. Centrists like Laura Chinchilla have also been elected. Bachelet, Fernandez de Kirchner, and Rousseff are the only three to have been to a second term and the former two the only to complete two terms. Although only a few have been elected, many more have ran. A notable candidate is Sandra Torres of

Torres during the 2019 election

Guatemala who has been the candidate for her National Unity of Hope party in three consecutive elections, and attempted to run in the 2011 Guatemalan general election but was barred from doing so as she was married to the incumbent president, Alvaro Colom; The Constitution of Guatemala bars immediate family members of the incumbent president to run in elections.

Mexico is a notable example of two women running for the presidency. The 2024 Mexican general election delivered an overwhelming majority of the vote to for Governor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo against her opponent; business woman and senator Xochitl Galvez.

Male Mentors

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Despite electoral success and progress for women's representation in politics, there is an undeniable trend that can be observed in all 5 of the pink tide leaders. It is that they run to succeed an immensely popular and politically successful male president. Often these male mentors have groomed these women for years to take over for them when their terms are over. the most notable examples of this are in Brazil and more recently, Mexico. In 2010, incumbent Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hand selected his chief of staff Dilma Rousseff to run in the 2010 Brazilian general election as the candidate for Lula's Worker's Party. She won the election and reelection in 2014. In Mexico, incumbent president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was succeeded by his long time ally and Governor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. They are not only close politically, some leaders are even married to former presidents. This was the case in Argentina during the 2007 Argentine general election in which incumbent president Nestor Kirchner was succeeded by his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Notably, the previously mentioned Perones were also married making both of Argentina's women presidents also former First Ladies. Current Honduran president, Xiomara Castro is also a former First Lady. She is married to former president Manuel Zelaya who was overthrown in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.

List of Leaders

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This list includes women who were elected by national popular vote, or ascended to their country's presidency. The list does not include women who served as interim or acting head of state such as El Salvador's Claudia Rodriguez de Guevara.[2]This list has a strict definition of Latin America (Hispanic or Portuguese speaking countries in continental Latin America) This list excludes countries in the Caribbean such as Haiti and French speaking countries on the continent such as French Guiana, or multi cultural and lingual countries like Belize.

Name Portrait Country Office Mandate start Mandate
end
Term length Head of state
or government
Executive
or non-executive
Isabel Martinez de Perón
 Argentina President 1 July 1974 24 March 1976 1 year, 267 days Head of state
and government
Executive
Lidia Gueiler Tejada
 Bolivia President 16 November 1979 17 July 1980 244 days Head of state and government Executive
Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro
 Nicaragua President 25 April 1990 1 January 1997 6 years, 260 days Head of state and government Executive
Rosalía Arteaga Serrano  Ecuador President 9 February 1997 11 February 1997 2 days Head of state and government Executive
Mireya Moscoso Rodriguez
 Panama President 1 September 1999 1 September 2004 5 years, 0 days Head of state and government Executive
Michelle Bachelet
 Chile President 11 March 2006 11 March 2010 4 years Head of state
and government
Executive
11 March 2014 11 March 2018 4 years
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
 Argentina President 10 December 2007 10 December 2015 8 years, 0 days Head of state and government Executive
Laura Chinchilla Miranda
 Costa Rica President 8 May 2010 8 May 2014 4 years, 0 days Head of state and government Executive
Dilma Rousseff
 Brazil President 1 January 2011 31 August 2016 5 years, 243 days Head of state and government Executive
Jeanine Añez
 Bolivia President 12 November 2019 8 November 2020 362 days Head of state and government Executive
Xiomara Castro de Zelaya
 Honduras President 7 January 2022 Incumbent 2 years, 325 days Head of state and government Executive
Dina Boluarte Zegarra
 Peru President 7 December 2022 Incumbent 2 years, 10 days Head of state and government Executive
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
 Mexico President 1 October 2024 Incumbent 77 days Head of state and government Executive
  1. ^ America, Voz de. "Las 13 mujeres que han sido presidentas en América Latina". Voz de America. Voz de America. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  2. ^ Times. "El Salvador sees a surprise presidential shift". Tico Times. Tico times. Retrieved 21 November 2024.