Argentina: First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner likely to be elected Presidenta

I've received word that Argentine First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is likely to be elected President. Her husband, Nestor Kirchner, is not running due to term limits.

From CNN

She met her husband Nestor Kirchner when they were both law students in her hometown of La Plata in the 1970's. They married in 1975 and have two children. Kirchner served three terms as Santa Cruz governor, while Fernandez is a three-term senator now representing powerful Buenos Aires province.

Comparisons have been made between the Kirchners and the Clintons. Like Bill and Hillary, the couple are said to consult each other on everything, especially political matters, and Kirchner is his wife's cheerleader-in-chief, promising she'll be an even better president than him.

While economic and political stability may have been welcomed by many, some analysts are wary of the close relationship dominating Argentine politics.

"There is no political debate in this country right now," Walter Curia, an editor at the newspaper Clarín told The New York Times. "The only debate is within the walls of the Pink House."

As long as they keep trading places and winning elections, the couple could stay in the Casa Rosada indefinitely, sidestepping the constitutional limit of eight consecutive years in office.

...

Still, inflation is high, corruption scandals have tarnished Kirchner's government, and the opposition is trying to capitalize on fears the couple will become what rival campaigns call "una monarkia," spelling the word for monarchy with a K for Kirchner.

"There is a risk she will be so captivated by international politics and foreign relations that she will avoid the mounting problems in Argentina," Shifter told The New York Times.

...

As far back as 2003, she angrily pounded her Senate desk as she demanded the Supreme Court repeal amnesty for officials accused of crimes during the 1976-83 military dictatorship, when as many as 30,000 Argentines were kidnapped and killed, including some of the Kirchners' friends.

The high court listened, scrapped the amnesty, and "dirty war" trials resumed last year.

...

The good folks at Wall Street Journal, one of the paragons of journalistic objectivity, have accused Nestor Kirchner of being "anti-market". His Wikipedia article indicates that he is a critic of economic neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus, but doesn't consider himself anti-market per se. Kirchner is friends with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is a bit of a maniac, but the former seems more a moderate. If he and his wife remain humble and don't centralize power too much, their country will do well, I think.