Day 5: Nov. 17, 2008

After spending time exploring Santiago and its environs, I got down to work today, meeting with women leaders in Chile. These included (right to left, see photo) María de los Ángeles Fernández, Executive Director of Fundación Chile 21; Natalia Flores G., of the Observatorio Género y Equidad; María Eugenia Hirmas Rubio, Director of Sociocultural Relations for President Michelle Bachelet; and Verónica Montellano, President of Polla Chilena, the state lottery system.

Another woman at the meeting was Congresswoman María Antonieta Saa Díaz (see photo), whose biography is a fascinating testament to women’s abilities to start at the bottom of the political ladder and achieve amazing things. She started off as a secretary to Jorge Edwards, Chilean writer, journalist and diplomat, typing his news articles; she also took dictation from Pablo Neruda, among others. After being a leader in the progressive workers’ and women’s movements, she was appointed Mayor of Conchalí by President Patricio Aylwin in 1990. In 1993, she ran for the National Congress of the Republic of Chile (District 17, representing Conchalí, Huechuraba y Renca in northern Chile). She has been a political force for women in Chile since her election.

The meeting began with my providing some context for a discussion of Latina women's political status in the US and Chile. This included the fact that Latinos make up the largest minority group (at 15% of the total US population) and hold disadvantaged socioeconomic and political status. Despite this fact, Latina women in the US represent a higher percentage of Latino elected officials than white women do of white officials; ran for the US Congress at higher rates than white women; and vote at higher rates than Latino men.

We then discussed the fact that women's representation at the level of Congress in Chile and the US are remarkably similar -- 17% of the lower house in the US and 15% in Chile. However, at the level of Senate, the US does better -- 16% of US Senators are women whereas just 5% of Chilean Senators are women. At the municipal level, I learned that 12% of mayors in Chile are women. The women leaders in the room expressed frustration that just 22% of Chilean local officials (city councilors) are women -- and I shared their frustration because women make up only about 28% in the US.

Other frustrations we shared were the divisions among women along ideological lines -- evident in the recent US election, as I wrote in an earlier post. Prof. Fernández and others in the room also indicated that it is very hard to get "women's issues" on the agenda in the Chilean congress, in the political parties, and on local agendas as well. Solutions suggested included more education on the importance of running for office, support for women when the run, and building a stronger alliance among women in Chile to press both the parties and the government for a higher level of appointments of women.