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Brazil & Southern Cone - April 2012 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Unspooling Néstor’s legacy

As the widow of Argentina’s former leader Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), President Cristina Fernández has enjoyed unrivalled political capital, resulting in her unchallenged, de facto control of the country’s dominant Partido Justicialista (PJ, Peronists). Securing a third consecutive mandate for the PJ in November 2011 was a feat that not even Juan Domingo Perón, the party’s founder, leader and strongman, was able to accomplish and in that respect, the Kirchnerista movement - or ‘Peronistas K’ as they call themselves – have made history. The latest policy U-turns by President Fernández, however, lend credence to those critics who argue that ultimately the populist policies put in place by the Kirchners are unsustainable. As one local political commentator quipped, without her husband around to act as a political counterweight, lately it is as if Fernández is arguing with her own reflection in the mirror; resulting in the unpicking of some of Néstor’s key policies.

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