Latin America's new dynasties: The unelected wives who stretch the limits of power

The passing of presidential power between family members is not a new phenomenon in Latin America. Fathers have passed power to their sons since the beginnings of the new republics, while wives have also succeeded their husbands as heads of state on more than one occasion.

Today the wives of some of the region's presidents, however, are exerting a strong influence over the direction of their countries without ever having been elected in their own right. While the unprecedented influence of Eva Perón in Argentina in the 1940s was a somewhat isolated case at the time, there are now a number of "first ladies" who are stretching the limits of power sharing beyond the democratic norm to something more resembling dynastic heritage. 

NICARAGUA

Rosario Murillo, the wife of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, has an unprecedented level of political power compared to the first ladies in the rest of the region, accentuated by the dominance of her husband's Sandinista party within Nicaraguan politics. Her official role is coordinator of the government's citizenship and communication board and she runs a number of charitable and social projects. However, her influence extends to an effective sharing of presidential power with her husband.

Murillo gives regular public declarations for, and is in many cases the face of, the presidency. According to some reports, her power extends further beyond even a sharing of power to the control of the cabinet, in which she presides over meetings and decides which ministers she will allow to speak publicly, often choosing to speak herself on their behalf.  

While 68-year old Ortega is currently in the process of seeking the final approval from congress for his own indefinite reelection, some observers have wondered whether or not Murillo is preparing to eventually take over from him.

PERU

Nadine Heredia, the wife of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, has seen a more recent rise to power. Humala became president in 2011 and since then Heredia has gradually eclipsed him in popularity due to her charisma and energy, while he is becoming increasingly unpopular amid doubts over his government's transparency.

Humala named Heredia the president of the ruling party, the center-left Partido Nacional, on December 30, which was backed by congress. This move fueled rumors that Heredia plans to run for election in 2016, which she has denied on a number of occasions.

Her opponents on the right have become very vocal in their criticisms of her, which include claims that her critics were excluded from the general assembly's vote for her leadership of the party, that her use of social networks to comment on official issues has been inappropriate and that her roles as first lady and president of the party are incompatible.

HONDURAS

The case of Xiomara Castro of Honduras presents a different scenario: a former first lady seeking power in her own right in place of her husband, much like Cristina Fernández. Castro almost succeeded in taking the presidency on November 24 last year, winning 29% of the vote.

She founded her own leftist party Libre following the forced removal of her husband Manuel Zelaya from the presidency in 2009, and her growing popularity brought her very close to winning the government back from the conservative Partido Nacional, members of which were among those responsible for the removal of Zelaya.

Though unsuccessful last year, she remains a key and popular opposition figure, and her young party will no doubt change and diversify Honduran politics. But there is no doubt that she owes her popularity to the defense of her husband.

ILLEGITIMATE POWER?

For Murillo and Heredia, their support of their husbands is extending and consolidating the reach of the executive powers on a far broader scale than is normally possible for one individual, and is therefore stretching the limits of democratic power.

And the fact that in each case their extensive influence is owed to their husbands' presidencies rather than their own political careers or democratic election, calls the validity of that power into question. If any of them were one day to become president in their own right, it would to some degree legitimize such a high degree of political control, but at present, at least in Murillo's and Heredia's cases, that legitimacy is markedly absent.