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Argentine midterm results

Cristinakirchnermensaje2010.jpg

Argentina held an election on Sunday, August 11th.

The election was called a "congressional primary," but the term doesn't seem to suggest down there what it would mean in the US. Here, such language would suggest votes by which the contending parties decide their nominees for Congressional campaigns. I'm not sure what exactly it means there, but ...

the point, the reason for my interest in the vote, is that the "congressional primary" serves as a midterm popularity check for President Cristina Fernandez (portrayed above).

Reuters, by the way, simply calls her Fernandez, and I'm following their style here. By Argentina naming conventions, she's also known as Fernandez de Kirchner, the "de Kirchner" a reference to her marriage to her precursor in the office, Nestor Kirchner (who left office in 2007 and left this vale of tears in 2010).

She and her party didn't do well. Her coalition received only 25% of the vote.

Bad news for Ms Fernandez and her electoral coalition seems to be good news for Argentine asset prices, because global markets have been worried about where things are headed.

Inflation, trade protectionism, an apparent willingness to default on its bonds -- again -- and the occasional nationalization: none of these has been a good thing. Note that on the issue of oil resources, Mexico is wisely heading in the other direction of late.

Anyway: With a little luck now, the woman pictured above  will end up with a hostile Congress in the near future.


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