The Americas and the Caribbean

When Michelle Bachelet takes office as president of Chile for the second time on Tuesday, the person who places the blue, white and red striped presidential sash round her neck will be  Isabel Allende - the first woman in Chilean history to be leader of the senate.

 One in four lawmakers in Latin America are women, a proportion second only to Europe, and a continent better known as the home of machismo is now leading the way in drawing more women into politics – enabling them gradually to push women’s, social and educational issues to the fore.

Over the past decade and a half, more women have come to power in the Western Hemisphere, leading to an increasing number of female politicians and the creation of laws to protect women’s rights. Today, women hold their countries’ highest office in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, while women represent one in four of Latin American legislators.

In 1967, Shirley Temple Black ran for Congress in California, attempting to become the first woman in the Golden State’s congressional delegation.

“I think men are fine and here to stay but I have a hunch that it wouldn’t hurt to have a woman’s viewpoint expressed in that delegation of 38 men,” she said, according to an Associated Press dispatch of her press conference. “One congresswoman among 38 congressmen is not unfair, fellows.”

Today’s Cape Cod Times noted the imminent retirement of Senate President Therese Murray and listed two of the leading candidates for her seat, Plymouth state representative Vinnie deMacedo and former Falmouth state representative Matt Patrick.

deMacedo, a Republican, said that “I would like to think that the district wants balance, and I think this is an opportunity to bring some balance to the Senate.”

Jenny Pierce's recent piece about El Salvador on the Inter-American Development Bank's blog, Sin Miedos, questioned where women's voices fit into discussions surrounding the (in)famous gang truce brokered in 2012.

Women’s rights advocates gathered at the Capitol today to renew their call for state legislators to pass the Women’s Equality Act.

Family Planning Advocates of NYS, Planned Parenthood Advocates of NY, along with state legislators spoke about the importance of passing the 10-point Women’s Equality Act, including the provision that strengthens abortion rights in New York, Gannett’s Ashley Hupfl reported today.