Featur e PinkPower By Israel Navarro U
p until around fifty years ago, with the ex- ception of Eva Perón in Argentina, Latin American first ladies tended to play a care- fully circumscribed role in their husbands’
political careers. They were, essentially, ornaments that re- flected positively onto their husbands but refrained from active political engagement. Since the 1970s, however, the wives of Latin American leaders have gradually increased their political influence—to the point that many have be- come essential to their husbands’ political appeal, and some have even developed political aspirations of their own. However, those first ladies who have gone on to run for office have met with mixed success, and some have en- countered a significant backlash. The key to understanding the expanding political role of
these primeras damas is to understand that, traditionally, Latin American first ladies have taken charge of social programs oriented toward development of families and improvement of the social welfare. This tends to involve a lot of direct con- tact with people living below the poverty line, who make up about 20 to 40 percent of the population throughout Latin America. When the first lady steps into this role of “mother of underprivileged families,” she creates empathy with the lower classes. In addition to whatever economic benefit poor citizens get from the programs implemented by the first lady, they gain a sense of her as a powerful public figure who un- derstands them and their needs. Imagine, for instance, that the wife of the president pays a visit to a single mother of several children who lives in
36 Campaigns & Elections | Canadian Edition
Latin American First Ladies Become Political Players
Eva Perón attained an unprecedented level of power for a Latin American woman of her time due to support from unions in Argentina, though she was never elected to office herself.
conditions of grinding poverty. In election cycle after elec- tion cycle, this impoverished woman has seen political can- didates passing through, asking for votes. Once they are elected, these politicians proceed to forget about the poor for the duration of their term—until it’s time to campaign
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