Weekly Report - 24 May 2007

President Néstor Kirchner won the provincial elections in Rí­o Negro on 20 May. To be more precise, he could not lose. The winning candidate, the incumbent governor, Miguel Saiz, was a K Radical; his opponent, Miguel Pichetto, a member of Kirchner's Frente para la Victoria. Kirchner could claim a victory whatever the outcome. Elections in the Capital Federal on 3 June will be very different. In a close race, the government candidate, Daniel Filmus, the education minister, lies in third place. Defeat would be a setback ahead of October's presidential elections. It also looks even more likely now: the Skanska corruption scandal has claimed its first victims among officialdom and Kirchner is fighting hard to stop it claiming more.