Argentine President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s impressive victory in the recent election can be largely attributed to her and her husband”s, current President Nestor Kirchner, economic policies. According to Jocelyn Olcott, a Professor of Latin American history at Duke University, on DemocracyNOW!, they stood up to the IMF and the World Bank and rejected their structural adjustment policies. This resulted in real wages increasing 40 percent and 11 million people were lifted out of poverty. They are credited with pulling Argentina out of a major economic crisis.
A prominent politician and champion for human rights before her husband was elected president, Cristina won the election this weekend with 46 percent of the vote is the first woman to be elected President in Argentina.
Cristina is the second woman to be elected President of a country in Latin America in the past two years, after the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet said that “It’s not a coincidence that these two neighboring counties, with similar characteristics, have elected women to direct their destinies,” reports DemocracyNOW!.
