Michelle Bachelet won yesterday’s second round of Chile’s presidential elections and will become President for a second time, after her 2006-2010 mandate. Between 2010 and 2013, Bachelet was the Executive Director of UN Women.
For the first time in Chile, two women were running for President. Bachelet, who leads an alliance of her Socialist Party, Christian Democrats and Communist, defeated Evelyn Matthei, the conservative candidate from the Alianza coalition, with a margin of 62% to 38% of the vote.
Despite the fact that a woman will be leading the country for a second time, women are underrepresented in Chilean politics. The country ranks 93rd in the Inter-Parliamentarian Union’s world classification -based on the percentage of women in national parliaments– with 14.2% in Parliament and 13.2% in Senate.
For the first time, South America will boast four female heads of states: Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina and Michelle Bachelet in Chile.
