She, however, insisted that she was not 'whining' about the problems of being a woman leader, but simply observing a truth that applied to her region and beyond.

She said that 'a strong woman' was invariably called 'a woman of steel', whereas 'a soft woman' was usually dismissed for 'lack of leadership'.

'I remember (former Chilean) president (Ricardo) Lagos once was so touched by something his eyes were teary and the press said, 'Oh, what a sensitive man.' When I do it, I am called hysterical,' she said.

She referred to the recent tense dispute between Colombia and Ecuador in which she and her Argentinian counterpart mediated to avert a conflict. Mrs Bachelet said she and Mrs Kirchner laughed about it afterwards.

'Christina said they usually think that women are hysterical,' said Mrs Bachelet, but this time the two South American leaders found the opposite was true. 'It was very funny,' she said. 'We were the ones who called on everybody to be cool. It is a paradox that women are pretty rational.'

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'It's so difficult to know who are the villains today. They look like wallpaper. Maybe they're in banks, maybe they are the insurance companies, maybe they're in labs, even in the sub-prime crisis.'
MATHIEU AMALRIC, the leading French actor who plays nefarious businessman Dominic Greene in the new James Bond adventure Quantum Of Solace, saying that his villainous character's anonymity makes it all the more real - and frightening.