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Argentina’s first lady begins presidential bid

Argentine senator and first lady Cristina Fernandez delivers a speech launching her candidacy Thursday.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Shane Romig Associated Press
Argentine senator and first lady Cristina Fernandez delivers a speech launching her candidacy Thursday.Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – First lady Cristina Fernandez launched her bid for Argentina’s presidency at a rally Thursday, promising to press ahead with the left-leaning reforms of her popular husband.

Fernandez, a senator whose presidential bid has drawn comparisons to U.S. candidate Hillary Clinton, told about 2,000 supporters in the Buenos Aires provincial capital of La Plata that the country should continue down the path of President Nestor Kirchner.

“Presidential elections can’t be a game of Russian roulette” with Argentines not knowing the future and everything changing from one administration to the next, Fernandez said as supporters chanted and waved banners.

Fernandez, 54, said for change to continue the nation “needs to go in the same direction.”

Polls show that Fernandez is favored to win the Oct. 28 election and replace her husband, Kirchner, who in July announced that he would step aside so she could run. Kirchner took office in 2003 and oversaw Argentina’s recovery from an economic collapse.

Besides comparisons to Clinton, a senator and former U.S. first lady, Fernandez’s candidacy also draws comparisons to Eva “Evita” Peron, the charismatic former first lady and second wife of late caudillo Juan Domingo Peron. The Perons were Argentina’s dominant power couple last century.

“We’re here to support Cristina as a woman, both for her personality and her strong character,” said Rita Maldonado, a 52-year-old teacher at the rally.

With incumbents barred from seeking more than one consecutive re-election, some have speculated that Kirchner and his wife plan to alternate power, leading to complaints of potential authoritarianism and a lack of respect for democratic institutions.

“The Kirchner movement isn’t one geared toward real democracy,” said Carlos Belotti, 65, a lawyer from La Plata who stopped to watch the rally. “It’s really about manipulating the people.”

Fernandez discounted those concerns Thursday and described the gains she feels were made under her husband in strengthening the presidency, legislature and judiciary.