Ana Patricia Botin Named to Forbes’ The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women List

Ana Patricia Botin has the power

Forbes magazine has unveiled its list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, with the 62-year-old Spanish banking executive coming in at No. 15.

Ana Patricia BotínBotin became the executive chairman of Santander in 2014, after the sudden death of her father, Emilio.

She pulled off a coup in 2017 when Banco Santander acquired failing Banco Popular (BP) for 1 euro to become Spain’s largest bank.

In the face of political unrest, she has championed fintech and focused on entrepreneurs, backing small enterprise and women-owned businesses.

She launched Santander X to support university entrepreneurship and helped create the country’s first multi-sector blockchain-based platform.

Paula Santilli comes in at No. 71 on the list…

The Mexican businesswoman has been the CEO of PepsiCo Latin America since May 2019. She oversees more than $7 billion in annual net revenue.

She leads the company’s food and beverage businesses for Mexico, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean–a business segment that boasts more 70,000 direct jobs in 34 markets.

In March 2022, Pepsico named Santilli to its board of directors.

At No. 94 on the list, Xiomara Castro

The 63-year-old Honduran politician was sworn in as Honduras’ president in January 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

She was elected to the role with 1.7 million votes, the largest number of votes in Honduras’ history.

She was previously the country’s first lady: her husband, Manuel Zelaya, was president from 2006 until a coup d’etat ended his term in 2009.

Castro campaigned for the presidency on a platform that included protecting and expanding women’s rights (Honduras has high rates of femicide and restrictive abortion policies).

Here’s a list of the Latinas on the list:

No. 15: Ana Patricia Botin, Spain, Finance
No. 71: Paula Santilli, Mexico, Business
No. 94: Xiomara Castro, Honduras, Politics & Policy

Mon Laferte’s “La Trenza” Enters the Top 5 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums Chart

It’s a special first for Mon Laferte

The 35-year-old Chilean singer has earned her first top five-charting set on Billboard’s Latin Pop Albums as her 2017 album La Trenza surges 11-4 in its fifth tracking week.

Mon Laferte

On the overall Top Latin Albums tally, it vaults 50-12 — the biggest jump on the chart since December.

The set earned 2,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 17 (up 126 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Most of that sum was driven by traditional album sales (up 167 percent). The title rallies thanks largely to sales generated by an in-store performance and album-signing appearance at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles on May 15.

La Trenza previously topped out at No. 10 on Latin Pop Albums for one week (May. 12).

La Trenza takes a striking 38-rank climb on the Top Latin Albums chart, as the set surges 50-12. It logs the largest positional jump since Puerto Rican Banco Popular’s compilation, Nuestra Isla, Nuestro Encanto surged 40 positions (45-5) on the Dec. 30, 2017- dated tally.

Concurrently, La Trenza leads the Latin Album Sales chart, jumping 7-1.

Kany Garcia & Fellow Latin Artists Help Raise Money for Puerto Rico with Banco Popular’s annual Christmastime album “Nuestra Isla, Nuestro Encanto”

It looks like Kany Garcia and Ozuna are giving Puerto Ricans a Christmas to remember… 

Banco Popular’s annual Christmastime album Nuestra Isla, Nuestro Encanto, featuring the 36-year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and the 25-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singer surges up Billboard’s Top Latin Albums (45-5) and Tropical Albums (9-2) charts.

Kany Garcia

The album has registered 3,000 equivalent album units earned (up 350 percent) — nearly all from traditional album sales.

The set (which was also released as a separate DVD) celebrates the many festivals, carnivals and events throughout Puerto Rico, and was produced over the last year.

The album includes many guest stars, including Diana Fuentes, Garcia, Vicente Garcia, Ozuna, Rey Ruiz and Olga Tañon.

Some of the proceeds from the sales of the album and DVD will support the Embracing Puerto Rico relief effort, supporting communities affected by Hurricane Maria.

Last year’s Banco popular album, Du Puerto Rico Para El Mundo, spent three weeks at No. 1 on both the Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts.

Manuel & Fellow Stars Reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums with “De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo”

Manny Manuel is helping shine a chart-topping spotlight on Puerto Rico…

De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo, a compilation album by various Puerto Rican stars, including the 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer, leads Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.

Manny Manuel

The set, which includes Pedro Capo and Ismael Miranda, soars 39-1 in its third charting week, due to sales triggered by its accompanying annual television special put on by Banco Popular, which aired on December 4 on Telemundo.

Sales following the broadcast grew more than 1,000 percent, to 2,000 copies sold in the week ending December 8.

De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo

The album features a mixture of party-ready tunes, holiday selections and patriotic songs that are popular at traditional Puerto Rican Christmas celebrations. They include remakes of Tito Nieves‘ “I Like It Like That” (performed by La Tribu de Abrante featuring Jeimy Osorio) and Vico C‘s “Bomba Para Afincar” (performed by Jowell & Randy), along with the ever-popular “Feliz Navidad” (performed by Manny Manuel featuring Mozart la Para).

Original “Feliz Navidad” singer Jose Feliciano is also featured on the star-studded festive collection. He lends his talents on the patriotic “En Mi Lindo San Juan.”