Cristina Fernandez secured re-election as president of Argentina with a landslide victory. It was in many ways a dramatic turnaround for Fernandez whose first term was beset by rows and low approval ratings. ????ARGENTINE President Cristina Fernandez, whose first two years as president were marred by protests and tumbling ratings, made a dramatic turnaround on the back of Argentina’s fast-growing economy and scored a landslide re-election victory Oct.23. ???? ????With the economy having grown 9 percent last year, Fernandez crushed a fractured opposition that fielded six opponents, all of whom trailed her by at least 35 percentage points. ????With 53 percent of Argentines voting for her, according to exit polls, Fernandez’s margin of victory is the widest in a presidential election since democracy replaced the country’s brutal military dictatorship in 1983. ????As she frequently reminds Argentines, her policies are the same as those of her late husband and predecessor in the presidency, Nestor Kirchner. He took office in 2003, a year after Argentina had descended into economic calamity upon its US$100 billion sovereign debt default, the largest in history. ???? ????Fernandez enjoys a popularity rating that tops 60 percent. At the start of her presidency, though, she was mired in controversy and bitter political battles, which left her and Kirchner, who was at her side as a de facto vice president, weakened. ????The discovery of a suitcase entering Argentina on a flight from Venezuela with US$800,000 led to accusations that the money was a campaign gift from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ally of Fernandez. More damaging was an angry and sustained tussle with Argentina’s powerful agricultural sector in 2008, which led to protests and paralyzed production after her government raised taxes on soy exports. ????Then the nationalization of private pension funds frightened Argentines, who worried that the government would spend the money. Fernandez’s popularity rating tumbled to 20 percent, and the government lost control of the National Congress in 2009 as the economy flagged. ????But economic growth rebounded last year. ????Then, last October, Nestor Kirchner died of a heart attack. That started a wave of sympathy that helped Fernandez rise steadily in the polls. Throughout her campaign, the president dressed in black, cried frequently and repeatedly extolled Kirchner’s policies, stressing that she would continue to follow them closely. ???? ????Kirchner and Fernandez had made a formidable team and were often described as Argentina’s power couple. ????Fernandez was born Feb. 19, 1953, in La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, where she graduated in law. ????She married Kirchner, whom she met at university, in 1975. A year later, the couple went to live in his home region, the southern province of Santa Cruz. ????At the end of the 1980s, she embarked on her political career, first as a provincial then as a national deputy. ????But it was her husband who rose through the Peronist ranks. ????In 1991 Kirchner was elected governor of Santa Cruz. He won two more terms, while Fernandez supported him as a deputy. ????When Kirchner took office as president in 2003 — in the midst of one of the worst economic and social crises in the country’s history — a similar pattern emerged. ????By then Fernandez was a senator with her own political weight in Congress, where she actively supported her husband’s policies that included boosting social spending. ????She cemented her political position in the congressional elections of 2005. ????Taking 46 percent of the votes, she won in the province of Buenos Aires in a contest dubbed “the wives’ duel,” beating her main rival, Hilda Gonzalez, the wife of the former President Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003). ????During Kirchner’s administration, there was almost no decision taken in which she did not have a say, her influence exceeding that of an ordinary lawmaker. ????She was also the first senator to have an office within the presidential palace, provoking criticism from the opposition. ????The governing party insisted that the office was small and was hers by virtue of her position as first lady. ???? ????Occupying the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada, in her own right, President Fernandez has broadly continued her husband’s policies. ????There have been further moves to address human rights abuses of the past. Argentina also became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriages. ????Under her, Argentina renewed contacts with the International Monetary Fund after years of hostility and moved to renew negotiations over paying Argentina’s debts to the Paris Club of lender nations. ????While Argentina has recovered from the economic woes of the early 2000s, there is persistent, and under-reported, high inflation and many Argentines still live in poverty. ????Fernandez has been, perhaps inevitably, compared to Eva Peron, Argentina’s legendary first lady who formed a formidable ruling partnership with her husband Juan Domingo Peron in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ????But Evita was never elected. Fernandez, by contrast, was the country’s first elected female president. ????“I have the honor to be the first woman to be re-elected in the country. What more could I want?” Fernandez told supporters after her re-election victory Oct. 23. ???? ????In 2008, Fernandez was ranked by the Forbes magazine as 13th on the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, being the second female head of government in the list below Angela Merkel. In 2009 she rose to 11th, but in 2010 she fell to 68th. ????In 2010, she was ranked by Time magazine as second in the list of the top 10 female leaders of the world. ????She is known for being passionate about clothes. According to The Times, “Cristina has deployed her glamour and sexuality as potent weapons on her way to a goal that not even the legendary Eva Peron was able to achieve.” ????She likes the mixture of textures, colors and prints, and has some favorite designers from Argentina. She always wears makeup and high heels. ????She is often criticized by observers — in both the media and the world of politics — for her excessive spending on clothes, jewelry and shoes. She rarely wears the same attire twice, and in many cases has been criticized for arriving late to meetings with international leaders because she was getting dressed. ????Since the death of her husband, Fernandez has decided to wear only black attire. So far, she has worn more than 200 different black outfits. (SD-Agencies) ???? ??????????????????????????????? ????ARGENTINE President Cristina Fernandez, whose first two years as president were marred by protests and tumbling ratings, made a dramatic turnaround on the back of Argentina’s fast-growing economy and scored a landslide re-election victory Oct.23. ???? ????With the economy having grown 9 percent last year, Fernandez crushed a fractured opposition that fielded six opponents, all of whom trailed her by at least 35 percentage points. ????With 53 percent of Argentines voting for her, according to exit polls, Fernandez’s margin of victory is the widest in a presidential election since democracy replaced the country’s brutal military dictatorship in 1983. ????As she frequently reminds Argentines, her policies are the same as those of her late husband and predecessor in the presidency, Nestor Kirchner. He took office in 2003, a year after Argentina had descended into economic calamity upon its US$100 billion sovereign debt default, the largest in history. ???? ????Fernandez enjoys a popularity rating that tops 60 percent. At the start of her presidency, though, she was mired in controversy and bitter political battles, which left her and Kirchner, who was at her side as a de facto vice president, weakened. ????The discovery of a suitcase entering Argentina on a flight from Venezuela with US$800,000 led to accusations that the money was a campaign gift from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ally of Fernandez. More damaging was an angry and sustained tussle with Argentina’s powerful agricultural sector in 2008, which led to protests and paralyzed production after her government raised taxes on soy exports. ????Then the nationalization of private pension funds frightened Argentines, who worried that the government would spend the money. Fernandez’s popularity rating tumbled to 20 percent, and the government lost control of the National Congress in 2009 as the economy flagged. ????But economic growth rebounded last year. ????Then, last October, Nestor Kirchner died of a heart attack. That started a wave of sympathy that helped Fernandez rise steadily in the polls. Throughout her campaign, the president dressed in black, cried frequently and repeatedly extolled Kirchner’s policies, stressing that she would continue to follow them closely. ???? ????Kirchner and Fernandez had made a formidable team and were often described as Argentina’s power couple. ????Fernandez was born Feb. 19, 1953, in La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, where she graduated in law. ????She married Kirchner, whom she met at university, in 1975. A year later, the couple went to live in his home region, the southern province of Santa Cruz. ????At the end of the 1980s, she embarked on her political career, first as a provincial then as a national deputy. ????But it was her husband who rose through the Peronist ranks. ????In 1991 Kirchner was elected governor of Santa Cruz. He won two more terms, while Fernandez supported him as a deputy. ????When Kirchner took office as president in 2003 — in the midst of one of the worst economic and social crises in the country’s history — a similar pattern emerged. ????By then Fernandez was a senator with her own political weight in Congress, where she actively supported her husband’s policies that included boosting social spending. ????She cemented her political position in the congressional elections of 2005. ????Taking 46 percent of the votes, she won in the province of Buenos Aires in a contest dubbed “the wives’ duel,” beating her main rival, Hilda Gonzalez, the wife of the former President Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003). ????During Kirchner’s administration, there was almost no decision taken in which she did not have a say, her influence exceeding that of an ordinary lawmaker. ????She was also the first senator to have an office within the presidential palace, provoking criticism from the opposition. ????The governing party insisted that the office was small and was hers by virtue of her position as first lady. ???? ????Occupying the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada, in her own right, President Fernandez has broadly continued her husband’s policies. ????There have been further moves to address human rights abuses of the past. Argentina also became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriages. ????Under her, Argentina renewed contacts with the International Monetary Fund after years of hostility and moved to renew negotiations over paying Argentina’s debts to the Paris Club of lender nations. ????While Argentina has recovered from the economic woes of the early 2000s, there is persistent, and under-reported, high inflation and many Argentines still live in poverty. ????Fernandez has been, perhaps inevitably, compared to Eva Peron, Argentina’s legendary first lady who formed a formidable ruling partnership with her husband Juan Domingo Peron in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ????But Evita was never elected. Fernandez, by contrast, was the country’s first elected female president. ????“I have the honor to be the first woman to be re-elected in the country. What more could I want?” Fernandez told supporters after her re-election victory Oct. 23. ???? ????In 2008, Fernandez was ranked by the Forbes magazine as 13th on the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, being the second female head of government in the list below Angela Merkel. In 2009 she rose to 11th, but in 2010 she fell to 68th. ????In 2010, she was ranked by Time magazine as second in the list of the top 10 female leaders of the world. ????She is known for being passionate about clothes. According to The Times, “Cristina has deployed her glamour and sexuality as potent weapons on her way to a goal that not even the legendary Eva Peron was able to achieve.” ????She likes the mixture of textures, colors and prints, and has some favorite designers from Argentina. She always wears makeup and high heels. ????She is often criticized by observers — in both the media and the world of politics — for her excessive spending on clothes, jewelry and shoes. She rarely wears the same attire twice, and in many cases has been criticized for arriving late to meetings with international leaders because she was getting dressed. ????Since the death of her husband, Fernandez has decided to wear only black attire. So far, she has worn more than 200 different black outfits. (SD-Agencies) | 