News that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has become the first woman to be elected president in Argentina's elections may come as little surprise to those who have been following the campaign closely over the last few months.
The sassily dressed Kirchner, whose glamourous appearance earned her the nickname 'Queen Cristina' and parallels with Eva Peron, stormed ahead in the polls with 45% of the vote. Fashioning her election in something of “a Hillary” - although not, fashionistas would stress, in a couture sense - Kirchner campaigned alongside her husband, Nestor, the outgoing president and the man credited for seeing Argentina out of its worst economic crisis in 2001, when it defaulted on $80 billion in loans. Indeed, Señora Kirchner is one part of the all-too familiar phenomenon on the international political stage; the powerhouse couple.
Nestor stood firmly by his wife’s side as she celebrated her success, however amidst the celebrations Cristina defiantly asserted that she saw her victory as an “immense responsibility for my gender.” Yet unlike her Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, the single-mother who was sworn in as Chile’s president last year, Cristina’s inauguration doesn’t mark the rise of a female power surge across South America (a continent known for its machismo).
Kirchner’s principal rival, the left-centrist Elisa Carrió - a chain-smoking, mother of four, ‘fondly’ known as ‘La Gorda’ - had fallen behind the first-lady in the polls in recent months. Carrió’s election platform rested on an anti-corruption campaign, and accusations of “systemic theft” of ballots that have emerged in the hours since Kirchner’s victory, will do little to quell the notions that the incoming president is more about style than substance. Whilst the Argentine election has been fought mainly between the two women, Kirchner’s victory is more of a spousal gift than a feminist triumph. The Clinton’s, doubtless, know all about this type of ‘Giving.’
The sassily dressed Kirchner, whose glamourous appearance earned her the nickname 'Queen Cristina' and parallels with Eva Peron, stormed ahead in the polls with 45% of the vote. Fashioning her election in something of “a Hillary” - although not, fashionistas would stress, in a couture sense - Kirchner campaigned alongside her husband, Nestor, the outgoing president and the man credited for seeing Argentina out of its worst economic crisis in 2001, when it defaulted on $80 billion in loans. Indeed, Señora Kirchner is one part of the all-too familiar phenomenon on the international political stage; the powerhouse couple.
Nestor stood firmly by his wife’s side as she celebrated her success, however amidst the celebrations Cristina defiantly asserted that she saw her victory as an “immense responsibility for my gender.” Yet unlike her Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, the single-mother who was sworn in as Chile’s president last year, Cristina’s inauguration doesn’t mark the rise of a female power surge across South America (a continent known for its machismo).
Kirchner’s principal rival, the left-centrist Elisa Carrió - a chain-smoking, mother of four, ‘fondly’ known as ‘La Gorda’ - had fallen behind the first-lady in the polls in recent months. Carrió’s election platform rested on an anti-corruption campaign, and accusations of “systemic theft” of ballots that have emerged in the hours since Kirchner’s victory, will do little to quell the notions that the incoming president is more about style than substance. Whilst the Argentine election has been fought mainly between the two women, Kirchner’s victory is more of a spousal gift than a feminist triumph. The Clinton’s, doubtless, know all about this type of ‘Giving.’
