Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Enter Néstor Kirchner
Duhalde, to his credit, was able to use his deep political-party roots to keep the country to-
gether through to elections in April 2003. Numerous candidates entered the contest; the top
two finishers were Menem (making a foray out of retirement for the campaign) and Néstor
Kirchner, little-known governor of the thinly populated Patagonian province of Santa Cruz.
Menem bowed out of the runoff election and Kirchner became president.
Kirchner was the antidote to the slick and dishonest Buenos Aires establishment politi-
cians. He was an outsider, with his entire career in the provinces and a personal air of sin-
cerity and austerity. The people were looking for a fresh start and someone to believe in -
and they found that in Kirchner.
During his term Kirchner defined himself as a hard-nosed fighter. In 2003 he managed to
negotiate a debt-refinancing deal with the IMF under which Argentina would only pay in-
terest on its loans. In 2006 Argentina repaid its $9.5 billion debt, not a small feat, which
drove his approval rating up to 80%. Annual economic growth was averaging an impress-
ive 8%, the poverty rate dropped to about 25% and unemployment nose-dived. A side ef-
fect of the 2001 collapse was a boom in international tourism, as foreigners enjoyed cos-
mopolitan Buenos Aires at bargain prices, injecting tourist money into the economy.
But not everything was bread and roses. The fact that Argentina had repaid its debt was
fantastic news indeed, but economic stability didn't necessarily follow. In fact, a series of
problems ensued during Kirchner's presidency: high inflation rates caused by a growing
energy shortage, unequal distribution of wealth, and a rising breach between rich and poor
that was slowly obliterating the middle class.
On the foreign-policy front, Kirchner's belligerence became aimed at outside forces. In
November 2005, when George Bush flew in for the 34-nation Summit of the Americas, his
presence sparked massive demonstrations around the country. Although anti-US sentiment
unites most Argentines, some feared that Kirchner's schmoozing with Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez alienated potential investors in the United States and Europe.
Kirchner made admirable strides toward addressing the human-rights abuses of the milit-
ary dictatorship. In 2005 the Supreme Court lifted an amnesty law that protected former
military officers suspected of Dirty War crimes, and this led to a succession of trials that
put several of them away for life.
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