Women’s rights continue to be a global issue. However, Latin America appears to have broken the great divide between gender and politics.
The recent inauguration of Costa Rica’s first female leader President Laura Chinchilla, which took place on May 8, has given women in surrounding regions a sense of hope. Women in Latin America are moving up the ladder by achieving high parliamentary positions. This has helped to maintain women’s rights and civil liberties.
President Chinchilla has officially become the third female president in Central America. After obtaining 47 percent of votes she became the front representative for the center left National Liberation Party. Chinchilla maintains socially conservative views that are similar to former President Oscar Arias. She is often criticized for wanting to uphold the same policies as Arias, whom Chinchilla served under as vice president.
I would argue that Laura Chinchilla has proven herself as more than just Arias’ doll. Chinchilla is well-fit for the challenge of presidency. She was brought up in a family with a strong political background and attended Georgetown University.
Chinchilla has served as the public safety minister, congressional deputy and vice president. Her goals are to continue the implantation of policies that help free, facilitate and stimulate Costa Rica’s economy. The president would also like to make public goods like electricity and telecommunication free, in order to promote efficiency within the nation.
She plans to utilize her advocacy power to help form and build strong relationships with other nations. As the first female president of Costa Rica, she promises to continue her nation’s success of having the most developed welfare system in the region.
The inauguration of Laura Chinchilla reflects the Western Hemisphere’s progress in improving the role of women. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, females in Latin America experience less gender discrimination than other areas of the world. Although they have yet to attain the level of equality that men have, they are moving forward to break down the barrier in gender discrimination.
Currently, men still occupy the majority of workforce in Latin America. Women only make up 40 percent of the workforce in Latin America.
There are still a number of challenges that face the region in the struggle for women’s rights. For example, a large majority of the indigenous population consists of indigenous women who suffer from further discrimination because of their poor economic status.
Organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund provide a voice for this socially discriminated portion of the population. They are active in maintaining and promoting the improvement of the indigenous population.
Essentially, Latin America has not yet achieved equality for women in all corners of the region, but it has helped to exemplify the progress of women’s rights movements. The current president of Argentina is the first elected female president and second female president. President Cristina Fernandez has set the standards, along with today’s president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet is the former defense minister and has become the first female to take the lead in presidency.
Women’s rights issues have not completely been resolved in this region, but there has been a tremendous amount of improvement.
Mary Ruiz is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
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