Page 11 - Aruba Today
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Monday 26 October 2015
At Press Time:
Argentines weigh continuity or overhaul in election
PETER PRENGAMAN Buenos Aires’ Governor and ruling party presidential candidate Daniel Scioli casts his vote as welfare programs, which
Associated Press election worker Dahiana Diaz, left, takes a selfie, in Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Ar- range from work training
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina gentina, Sunday Oct. 25, 2015, as an election worker takes a selfie with him in the background. to stipends for single moth-
(AP) — In one of the most Argentines are weighing continuity versus a financial overhaul in Sunday’s elections as they pick ers. Her government was
important elections of a the successor to President Cristina Fernandez, a polarizing leader who dominated national politics the first in Latin America
generation, Argentines on for 12 years. to legalize gay marriage,
Sunday chose between a and it nationalized airline
ruling party candidate who (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz) Aerolineas Argentinas and
promised to continue with the YPF oil company while
the loved and sometimes “So I just have to decide the margins of international Affairs. “But for Argentina, strengthening ties with Rus-
loathed policies of Presi- who is the best of bad.” credit markets. OK is pretty good.” sia and China and often
dent Cristina Fernandez The decisions of voters like But Argentines have a Daniel Scioli, the governor accusing the United States
and an opposition leader Roy would be key, as Ar- unique, nightmarish refer- of the Buenos Aires prov- of meddling in the coun-
who argued the South gentines have been deep- ence point for a truly bad ince and a former vice try’s affairs.
American nation needs an ly divided about the rule of economy: the financial col- president, was the chosen Scioli, a former boat racer
overhaul. Fernandez and about who lapse of 2001-2002, when successor to Fernandez, who lost his right arm in an
It was no surprise that the might improve the eco- the country defaulted on who nears the end of her accident in 1989, present-
leading candidates de- nomic problems and cor- $100 billion in debt and second term with approval ed himself as the continua-
fined themselves in terms ruption plaguing the nation overnight millions of middle ratings around 50 percent. tion of Fernandez’s policies
of Fernandez, a polarizing of 41 million people. class people were impover- Fernandez and her late hus- who would also fix anything
leader who along with her Inflation is around 30 per- ished. “The economy is OK. band and predecessor as broken. He bristled at sug-
late husband dominated cent, the economy is stag- It’s not great,” said Maria president, Nestor Kirchner, gestions that Fernandez
national politics for 12 years nant and a bitter court fight Victoria Murillo, an expert are widely credited with lift- would continue to domi-
and rewrote the country’s with a group of creditors in on Argentine politics at Co- ing the nation after the col- nate behind the scenes.
social contract. theU.S. has scared off inves- lumbia University’s School lapse. Fernandez sharply in- “What Scioli would do in of-
Polls closed in the evening tors and kept Argentina on of International and Public creased spending on social fice is a mystery,” said Ma-
without any reports of dis- ria Fernandez, who owns a
turbances, and election real estate company. “Will
officials said the first official he take orders from Cristina
results would not be known or do something else?”
until late Sunday. “I don’t want to find out,”
During the chilly but clear added Fernandez, who
day when bars were closed was voting for Mauricio
and there were not the usu- Macri, the lead opposition
al weekend soccer games, candidate.
millions filed into schools, Macri, the Buenos Aires
churches and other busi- mayor, presented himself
nesses converted into poll- as the candidate to put
ing places to cast their Argentina’s economy in
votes — sometimes unde- order, promising to make a
cided right up to the last deal with the U.S. creditors
moment. and lift unpopular currency
“The truth is I don’t like any restrictions.
of the candidates,” said But Macri also has tailored
Anai Roy, a college student his campaign to the millions
who said she would make a who receive some form of
choice in the polling booth. government support. q
