MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cristina Fernandez among the 20 most powerful women in the world, says Forbes

Performance of the Argentine economy and her re-election bid, are among arguments to boost CFK ranking

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is the second most powerful Latinamerican woman in the world according to a ranking released by Forbes.

The first in Latin America is Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff while worldwide the list is headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel followed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

President Cristina Fernandez climbed from position 68 in 2010 to 17 this year, and Forbes mentions several reasons to support the new ranking. “In June Cristina Fernandez announced she would run for re-election” following the unexpected death of her husband last October.

Forbes underlines the performance of the Argentine president administration: “sustained growth of the economy; increase in pensions and universal allowance for all children which helped reduce poverty from 21% in 2006 to 11.3% in 2009”

However the report also mentions some ‘obstacles’: high inflation and opposition from business and farmers organizations”.

The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff figures in place 3 world wide, behind Merkel and Hillary and thus jumps from position 95 in 2010. She figures in position 16 of the most powerful men and women of the world.

In the Latinamerican ranking, position three is occupied by another Brazilian, the top model Gisele Bündchen, who ranks 60 in the world listing.

Costa Rica president Laura Chinchilla is the fourth most powerful woman in Latin America and 86 world-wide. However she has lost three positions compared to 2010 when she was ranked 83, mainly because of the fiscal reform she promoted on taking office in February 2010.