Forbes' Most Powerful Women List: Brazilian President Rousseff and Chilean President Bachelet Make List
Four Latin American leaders were selected to be on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful women, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
Three of the top five positions on the list of 100 women are held by female politicians, with 20 spots occupied by female political leaders. The increasing number of female political leaders across the globe proves that women are making significant strides in a sector that historically prevented females from reaching high political office.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who is also the former director of the United Nations' Women's organization, occupies the No. 25 spot on the list.
According to Fox News Latino, she received 62 percent of the votes in the election to her second term as president. Forbes says that Bachelet ended her first 2006-2010 mandate with support from 84 percent of the population, then became the executive head of the U.N. Women's organization.
Forbes also notes her current political agenda, which includes implementing 50 measures in her first 100 days in office, reviewing Chile's education system and reforming the Chilean constitution.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff came in at No. 4 on the list. Brazil has the world's focus as it hosts the World Cup this summer and the Olympics in 2016. Rousseff is heading a plan to spend the country's multi-billion dollar budget to build up its infrastructure for the games, which will boost the country's lagging economy.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and Petrobras CEO Maria Das Gracas Silva were also selected for the list.
The list is headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by new U.S. Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen.
Angela Merkel has been named the world's most powerful woman for nine of the past 10 years. She became the first woman to serve as German Chancellor, breaking through male-dominated German politics.
Merkel heads one of the world's biggest economies, boasting a $3.4 trillion gross domestic product. Germany is the defacto leader of the European Union, which generates $15.8 trillion GDP.
Janet Yellen is the first woman to serve as leader of the Fed, operating the most influential central bank in the world. She focuses on increasing employment to get more Americans back to work.
First Lady Michelle Obama is also on the list at No. 8., joined by Minority Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at No. 26, SEC Chair Mary Jo White at No. 63 and a number of other female politicians.