President Kirchner: Another Peron?

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

President Kirchner, who has been in office since December 2007, was re-elected in 2011 and may have her sights on a third term – which would require an amendment to the constitution.  She was the first elected female president of Argentina and the second to hold that office after Isabel Peron in the 1970s. Her landslide election victory resulted from a popular policy of wealth distribution. She is an admirer of the Peron dynasty and the widow of Nestor Kirchner, a former president of the country.

Kirchner’s administration has not been without criticism and there have been allegations of corruption and crony capitalism. Early in the New Year the IMF censured Argentina for failing to comply with international standards for compiling inflation and economic growth figures.  The country is experiencing its highest inflation for a decade. An anti-government demonstration in November attracted up to half a million protestors. However, the opposition is in very poor shape and things look more promising for the government now that GDP is improving.