Events of the Day10:00a.m. Meeting with Women Leaders of Key Government Agencies
4:00p.m. Radio Interview at US Embassy
7:30pm Reception home of the Deputy Director of the US Embassy, Carol Urban
Women Leaders Meeting: It was 10:30am and the meeting at the offices of Fundación Chile 21 was in full swing. Around the table were women leaders representing a range of government agencies, social service organizations, and political parties. Elena Luzama and Nelly Zamorano, from the Ministerio del Secretario General had worked with María de los Ángeles Fernández to bring the group together. Also present was Gabriela Valero Cañas, head of the “Unit to Promote the Rights and Protection of Women” at SERNAM, an agency akin to a Ministry for Women, but – as many this week complained – is not a cabinet-level post. Others included Diva Millapan,(on left in left photo) representing Mapuche women; another Mapuche woman named Victoria (on right in
right photo), who ran for a city council seat but lost; her complaints about how candidates campaign on little more than a name and a “photo with a nice smile” rather than substance, sounded familiar to someone from the US where the lack of policy specifics is a constant refrain. Other women represented the National Library, and the Division of Social [Service] Organizations (DOS) of the Office of the Secretary General, and more. Finally, an older woman, named, coincidentally, Alma Fanta, was disturbed by the gender gap in wages in Chile today, asserting that, when she finished medical school, women who entered the professions of medicine and law were able to earn the same salaries as men. After the meeting we chatted about the possible common roots of our last names – her family’s origins a long time ago were in Poland.
A good part of the meeting elaborated on the problem of how few elected positions are available in Chile. It turns out that Chile is still operating under the Constitution developed when Pinochet was pressured into putting a more democratic face on his dictatorship. This Constitution permits the retention of many powers in the hands of the President. Thus, there are no elected positions such as state legislators and the regional governors (Intendentes) are appointed by the President. Having just the national congress, mayors and city councilors of around 300 municipalities, seriously restricts opportunities for women.
At the same time, much of the discussion that went on sounded amazingly familiar with the concerns of women in the United States: Women go into politics at the local level but don’t see themselves as moving up; the need for a “critical mass”; ideological divisions among women with a dominance on the right of women who don’t promote “women’s issues”; the lack of funds for running successful campaigns at the congressional level; women have to reassure voters that they are not “feminists”; the press doesn’t cover a lot of what women are pushing for as an agenda because items like universal pre-kindergarten are “soft issues”; and the fact that women are held to different standards.
When asked for advice, I shared strategies such as developing an “EMILY’s List” for Chile – that could promote and raise money for women to run, especially for the coveted positions of Diputada or Senadora. Another strategy is the “Open Seats Initiative” I’ve been advocating, in which a coalition of organizations develops a database of the top positions, inputs the likelihood of a candidate leaving (through resignation, acceptance of another post, or even illness/death), and identifies/promotes a woman to be ready for the seat when it becomes available. We all agreed that in both countries, men do this all of the time. I gave examples from Massachusetts where we elected Niki Tsongas – the first woman sent to the US Congress from our state in 20 years – by recognizing that the incumbent, Martin Meehan, was likely to leave (either to run for governor or, as he did, to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell). I had arranged a meeting with her before Meehan announced he was leaving to say, “Be ready,” and “Women will support you.” She demurred slightly but I’m sure that the seed was planted; she was ready; and did get the support she needed. It is this type of strategic intervention statewide in Massachusetts – and nationally and locally in Chile – that can turn things around politically for women.
US Embassy Radio Broadcast
I was interviewed on women’s political participation in Chile and the United States. With me was Andrea Sanhueza, Executive Director of Corporación Participa – a national organization designed to promote participation in civil society. (Come back soon for link to audio on the US Embassy’s website. )
Embassy Reception
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