October 24, 2007. Copyright 2007, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Queen Cristina prepares to assume her crown
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, October 24, Graphic News:  Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the glamorous, globetrotting first lady of Argentina, will give her country an automatic image makeover if, as now seems inevitable, she wins the October 28 presidential election to take her husbandÕs place in the Casa Rosada, but the reasons for her likely victory are far from skin-deep.

ÒQueen CristinaÓ, as she has been called, has a commanding lead over her rivals for the presidency. When the news was announced that she would be bidding to take over from husband Nestor Kirchner, experts seemed divided as to whether it was her influence that had secured his enduring appeal, or whether she was now hitching a ride on his bandwagon.

To anyone tempted to mention that other power duo of Bill and Hillary Clinton, however, Cristina has the answer: ÒHillary was able to position herself nationally because her husband was presidentÓ, she told CNN. ÒShe didnÕt have any political career beforehand and that wasnÕt my caseÓ.

Indeed, itÕs accurate to say that Cristina has had a long, distinguished career of her own and that she has spent much of it at his side. Born on February 19, 1953, in La Plata, she studied law at university and, after marrying Kirchner in 1975, went to live in his home province of Santa Cruz, in Patagonia. Another of her nicknames is La Pinguina (the penguin), because of their ties with that region.

She was elected to represent Santa Cruz in the senate in 1995, and to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997. She was re-elected senator in 2001, and retained her post four years later, defeating Hilda Gonzalez de Duhalde, wife of former interim president Eduardo Duhalde, in what became known as the Òduel of the wivesÓ.

Cristina, who hails from the leftist Peronist party, is known as a formidable political operator and commanding speaker. Throughout her career she has allied herself to human rights and womenÕs rights causes, and she has vowed to continue the economic policies that have put Argentina back on track after the 2002 financial meltdown, and to improve provision of education and healthcare.

Since 2003 she has been an effective ambassador for her husband, and their ÒteamworkÓ has drawn inevitable comparisons with President Juan Peron and his second wife Evita, who -- like Cristina -- was popular with the poor.

Nevertheless, her candidacy has not been without its critics. Her high-maintenance image and jet-setting lifestyle have drawn accusations that she is more interested in hobnobbing with foreign leaders than tackling issues closer to home. In recent weeks she has clocked up the air miles in visits to Latin American neighbours and Europe. 

Observers say her appetite for global politicking could herald a more adventurous foreign policy, as well as stronger ties with the United States -- especially if it is led by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

There have been unkind remarks that Cristina is approaching her bid for the presidency as a coronation rather than an election, but the fact remains that she now looks unbeatable. Vicious barbs from centre left rival Elisa Carrio -- a former beauty queen now known as La Gorda (The Fat One) -- about CristinaÕs evident discomfort when mingling with the lower classes, have failed to dent her impressive lead.

If she does win -- setting up the intriguing possibility of her husbandÕs return at a later date -- Cristina will have to spend some time at home: an acute energy crisis and rampaging inflation are at the top of her in-tray.
/ENDS