Monday, October 29, 2007

Argentina: Say hello to "Presidenta" Kirchner

Current First Lady and Senator Cristina Kirchner will be the next president of Argentina after winning comfortably in the first round of election yesterday. Kirchner became the first woman elected to the argentine presidency after earning nearly double the amount of votes as second-place finisher Elisa Carrio.

Despite some worries over the economy, Kirchner’s victory speech emphasized her campaign message of continuing the progress enjoyed during her husband’s administration:

“Since 2003 we've fought poverty, unemployment and the things that did so much damage and brought so much tragedy to the Argentine people,” Fernandez said with her husband by her side. “We're going to construct a different history.”

Throughout the elections Kirchner’s victory appeared to be a foregone conclusion; for months most polls had placed her as the clear favorite in the run-up to Sunday and one political analyst told BBC News that “the vote was one of the most disorganized in recent Argentine history.”

In addition, Kirchner tried to shake off comparisons between her and other notable female political leaders like Eva Peron and Hillary Clinton. Some political commentators had even gone as far as to compare the jewelry worn between Kirchner and Clinton.

Sources- BBC News, Forbes, Voice of America, Bloomberg, The Latin Americanist,

Image- BBC News

No comments: