The relatively unknown study completed in 1998 on "Women''s Rights and Opportunities in Latin America: Problems and Prospects" by Mala N. Htun of Harvard''s Center for International Affairs (iadialog.org/htunrigh.html) reports that the number of women in executive positions remains lower than in political decision making, where women have become more prominent in the last twenty years. In Mexico, for example, only 5.5% of the executive positions in the 600 largest companies were held by women in 1997, and 45% of these executives were in charge of human resources.? The figures for Chile are even lower, where a mere 50 of the 2,500 executives leading the country''s 500 largest companies were women.? Moreover, there are no affirmative action programs. The absence of statistics on gender breakdown makes it difficult to design such programs, and the paper concludes that mandating the development of these records by private business is the first step in promoting women''s leadership.

Jenalia Moreno puts a human face on these statistics in "Cuidado!Mujeres Trabajando! Scaling Mount Machismo" (Houston Chronicle, February 13, 2000). The humorous stories shared by a number of successful businesswomen with Ms. Moreno illustrate the serious obstacles faced by their sex in gaining management positions. Nevertheless, the article points out that the situation may be improving since the publication of the Harvard report. The number of new companies started by women is increasing, and more are occupying key positions in publicly traded companies. At the same time, they have greater visibility.? More upper class women are entering the workforce, and more women are earning university degrees. Ms. Moreno also believes that foreign companies, which are more likely to promote women to management, are challenging the traditional stereotype.

At the same time, however, both American and Latin American women have made significant career gains in Miami.? In "Women Execs Seize Latin American Opportunity" (Knight-Ridder Service, October 1996) Mimi Whitefield profiles those who have become senior executives in the telecom and TV production and distribution industries, whose rapid growth in the region have opened doors for bilingual professionals.