End of an era in Argentina as Cristina Kirchner leaves a divisive legacy
To her working-class base, Kirchner and her husband are the saviours who salvaged the economy after Argentina’s 2001 crisis; to her generally better-off detractors, she is an overbearing interventionist.
Cristina Kirchner, the fiery, unbending president who has dominated Argentine politics for 12 years along with her late husband Nestor, leaves a divisive legacy as the country elects her successor.
To her working-class base, Kirchner and her husband are the saviours who salvaged the economy after Argentina’s 2001 crisis and stood up for the little guy against bullies both foreign and domestic.
To her generally better-off detractors, she is an overbearing interventionist who steered the economy back toward ruin and embarrassed the country with her acrimonious attacks on her favourite foes - from old Falklands War enemy Britain, to the big media conglomerates whose empires she has sought to dismantle, to the “vulture” fund capitalists suing Argentina over defaulted debt.
“She’s an arrogant liar. I can’t wait for her to go. I hate her, plain and simple,” said Monica Gurfinkel, a 48-year-old medical secretary who called Kirchner’s government the worst she’s ever seen.
“The greatest thing that ever happened to Argentina is Cristina,” said Juan Bertone, a 32-year-old bank employee from the opposite side of the Kirchner divide. “She’s a courageous woman who improved our standard of living with the ‘paritarias’ [mandatory pay raises to keep pace with inflation] and defended the nation’s interests against the ‘vulture’ funds. You have to love her.”
