The Most Powerful Latinas in the World

Getty Images

NAME: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

AGE: 58

ROOTS: Argentinian

WHAT MAKES HER POWERFUL: The first elected female president of Argentina, she is a force to be reckoned with and has been since her late husband Nestor was president before her. Just this year, she got into disputes with Brazil (over trade quotas between the two countries) and the United States (after Argentina seized a US-govt cargo plane allegedly as payback for President Obama skipping the country on his Latin American tour), and threatened to cancel flights to the Falkland/Malvinas Islands as a way to bolster Argenitna’s claims over the British-held islands. With allegations of fiddling with economic number and threatening opposition journalists, lover her or leave her, it’s clear that Fernandez is not backing down as she seeks re-election in October presidential elections.