Friday 16 February 2007
These posters have gone up all over downtown in the last day or two, yelling out "Ayer Isabelita, Hoy Cristina." A few words about these two ladies of Argentine politics.
Isabelita is Isabel Perón, the third wife of the famous Juan Perón. (Evita was his second.) She was a beautiful dancer thirty five years younger than him, and met him in exhile in Panama. They married and she quickly became very influencial, and when Perón returned to Argentina and ran for president in 1973, he choose Isabel as his vice president. He died less than one year later, and she served as Argentina's first (and, thus far, only) female president from 1974 to 76.
The problem is, she was extremely unpopular. Her time in office was marked by high inflation, weak leadership, lots of disappearances, and over 1,500 deaths in an attempt to "annihilate subversive elements" in the country. She was actually arrested in Spain a few weeks ago for her connections to (i.e. direct orders for) these disappearances.
Cristina is Cristina Kirchner, current senator and rather powerful wife of the president, Nestor Kirchner. Rumors have been flying that she will run in the next presidential election. Clearly someone is not happy about this.
These posters have gone up all over downtown in the last day or two, yelling out "Ayer Isabelita, Hoy Cristina." A few words about these two ladies of Argentine politics.
Isabelita is Isabel Perón, the third wife of the famous Juan Perón. (Evita was his second.) She was a beautiful dancer thirty five years younger than him, and met him in exhile in Panama. They married and she quickly became very influencial, and when Perón returned to Argentina and ran for president in 1973, he choose Isabel as his vice president. He died less than one year later, and she served as Argentina's first (and, thus far, only) female president from 1974 to 76.
The problem is, she was extremely unpopular. Her time in office was marked by high inflation, weak leadership, lots of disappearances, and over 1,500 deaths in an attempt to "annihilate subversive elements" in the country. She was actually arrested in Spain a few weeks ago for her connections to (i.e. direct orders for) these disappearances.
Cristina is Cristina Kirchner, current senator and rather powerful wife of the president, Nestor Kirchner. Rumors have been flying that she will run in the next presidential election. Clearly someone is not happy about this.
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