Cry for Argentina!
With the crucial help of the former president Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (*1953) as his vice-presidential candidate, the left-leaning Justicialist Party candidate Alberto Fernández (*1959 in Buenos Aires) won the 2019 presidential election in Argentina last Sunday against the incumbent Mauricio Macri. Alberto Fernández ended up with 48.1%, clearly but less than expected ahead of Mauricio Macri with 40.4%. A third party candidate, Roberto Lavagna, finished with 6.2%. Voter turnout was almost 81%.
In Argentina, the treshold to win in the first round is 45% or only 40% if the leader finishes 10% ahead of the second-placed candidate. If no candidate meets either threshold, a runoff takes place between the top two candidates.
It is a tragedy for Argentina that the economically liberal Mauricio Macri failed to turn the country’s economically and financially desperate situation around. In May 2019, the most likely corrupt — roughly a dozen investigations against her are under way — Cristina Kirchner made clear that she would not seek to run for office but instead support Fernández as his vice-presidential candidate; she needs to be elected to enjoy immunity. Polls showed that this was the winning ticket. As a consequence, Argentina’s already bad economic and financial situation deteriorated even more. Inflation is out of control, the Peso in free fall, the unemployment rate is over 10%, one third of the population is living below the poverty line, foreign investment is lacking, the country is virtually bankrupt. Argentina will have to restructure its public debt.
Alberto Fernández and Cristina Kirchner have known each other for a long time because Fernández had served as chief of the cabinet of ministers (25 May 2003 – 23 July 2008) first under Néstor Kirchner, Cristina’s late husband, and subsequently under president Cristina Kirchner herself.
A biography of Alberto Fernández
Fernández attended Law School at the University of Buenos Aires. His father was a judge of Spanish descent. He worked as professor of criminal law before becoming an adviser to the Deliberative Council of Buenos Aires and the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. He later became Deputy Director of Legal Affairs of the Economy Ministry. In this capacity, he served as Argentina’s chief negotiator at the GATT Uruguay Round. Subsequently, the newly elected President Carlos Menem nominated him to serve as National Superintendent for Insurance. From 1989 until 1992, Alberto Fernández served as President of the Latin American Insurance Managers’ Association. He co-founded the Insurance Managers International Association. He served as adviser to Mercosur and ALADI on insurance law, and worked for insurance and health service companies in the private sector.
Alberto Fernández joined the Justicialist Party and, in 1995, belonged to the inner-party opposition around Eduardo Duhalde which tried to unseat Argentina’s President Carlos Menem. Alberto Fernández supported Duhalde’s unsuccessful 1999 presidential bid.
In 2000, Alberto Fernández was for the first time elected to a political office. He became a member of the Buenos Aires City Legislature on the conservative Acción por la República ticket led by former economy minister Domingo Cavallo. In 2003, President Néstor Kirchner appointed him Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers. In 2007, he retained the job under Kirchner’s wife and successor, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. However, the honeymoon was short-lived. In 2008, new taxes on agricultural exports led to the break-up between Kirchner and Fernández, who had been the government’s chief negotiator in the failed negotiations with the agricultural sector. Fernández resigned on 23 July 2008 and created his own party PARTE.
Subsequently, Alberto Fernández was named head of the City of Buenos Aires chapter of the Justicialist Party. He considered seeking the Justicialist Party presidential nomination ahead of the 2011 general elections but ultimately endorsed President Cristina Kirchner for re-election.
In 2013, Alberto Fernández joined the Peronist faction Frente Renovador of Sergio Massa, the inner-party opposition to the Peronist faction of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. In 2015, Alberto Fernández was the campaign manager of the presidential candidacy of Sergio Massa and his Frente Renovador.
On October 27, 2019 with the help of Cristina Kirchner, Alberto Fernández and his Frente de Todos coalition managed to win the 2019 presidential election. Fernández will take office on December 8, 2019. During the electoral compaign, he promised the moon, including jobs, social benefits and dignity. However, the country is virtually bankrupt and has difficulties serving the public debt. A haircut or another form of restructuring the public debt seems unavoidable. There is no room for financial extravaganza.
One of the world’s richest countries until the 1929 financial crisis, Argentina has not invested enough in its future (education, innovation, rule of law and anticorruption). A series of military coups starting in 1930 and, since 1946, Juan Perón’s accession to power, populist Peronist left-wing policies have brought the country to the brink more than once. Cry for Argentina!
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2019 photograph of Alberto Fernández. Film still of the TV program A Dos Voces, October 24, 2019. Source: “Los depósitos de la gente son depósitos de la gente” / Wikipedia. Author: Todo Noticias.
Article added on October 29, 2019 at 17:58 German time.
