MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Support ebbs away for Argentina's President Kirchner and her husband

One of several boutique hotels belonging to the “royal couple”

The following was published by London’s The Guardian and gives a good idea of how the foreign press consider events in Argentina.
By Rory Carroll and Olive Balch

There is something magical about El Calafate. A speck of a town in the vast, windswept wilderness of Patagonia, it thrives against the odds.

The rest of Argentina is suffering unemployment and poverty but here, along Avenida San Martin and surrounding streets, all you see are shiny boutiques, gourmet restaurants and 4x4s. On the lake shore new hotels and guesthouses greet visitors with champagne.

Even the Perito Moreno glacier, the town's tourist magnet, is doing well: it is one of a handful of glaciers worldwide to have withstood warmer temperatures.

Few in El Calafate, however, have flourished quite as much as President Cristina Kirchner and her husband, Nestor. In addition to owning a weekend retreat the first couple has invested heavily in land and property, reaping spectacular returns.

“See that place? Theirs,” said Osvaldo Leon, slowing his taxi by Hotel Alto Calafate. “And that place over there,” – he pointed to Casa Los Sauces, a new boutique hotel – “theirs too. This town has got Kirchner stamped all over it.”

Cristina, keen on style and glamour, is said to have personally overseen the hotels' eclectic blends of antique and modern design.

The first couple has declared ownership of 28 properties (not all in El Calafate) valued at 3.8 million US dollars, four companies worth 4.8 million and bank deposits of 8.4 million.

A plot of municipal land bought for 34,400 USD in 2006 garnered 1.64 million when sold on last year. Since coming to power in 2003 their wealth has exploded from 1.7 million to 12 million US dollars

The problem is that many Argentines consider these rewards not so much magical as dodgy: the result, it is claimed, of using influence over local authorities for financial gain. Opposition members of congress have called the Calafate property bonanza a scandal and demanded an inquiry.

Cristina and her husband, who served as president before her in an unusual power tandem, have denied any wrongdoing and said high office should be no impediment to astute business deals. “That is the essence of capitalism,” said a spokesman.

Fair or not, the perception of sleaze has fed a backlash which has devastated the Kirchners' approval ratings and cost them control of congress, turning the administration into a potential lame duck. It is a precipitous fall for spouses who once reigned as the saviors of Argentina.

Nestor won the presidency in 2003 on a Peronist ticket when the country was reeling from an economic collapse. He shepherded it through a remarkable recovery and in 2007 handed the baton to his wife, a veteran politician in her own right. Queen Cristina, as she was known to some, was elected in a landslide, cementing a formidable dynasty.

Then things started to go wrong. The recovery stalled, poverty and crime surged and the government lost a battle with farmers over export taxes. The golden couple swiftly lost their shine.

“Most pollsters place them between 20% and 30%,” said Felipe Noguera, a political analyst. “The economy is no longer going strongly. Most indicators are pointing in the wrong direction.”

The Kirchners, who as lawyers championed human rights cases, used their Patagonian roots to distance themselves from the traditional – and corrupt – Buenos Aires elite. Nestor reveled in the nickname “the penguin”.

Revelations about their business dealings have tainted that image, said Noguera. ”More and more Nestor – and to an extent his wife – are seen as one more politician. They can no longer distinguish themselves on this (anti-corruption) issue.“

It is no coincidence that a spotlight has fallen on their finances since relations soured with the media giant, Grupo Clarin. Enraged by negative coverage, which she blamed for losing congressional control in mid-term elections, the president went on the offensive.

She proposed a law that would dismantle Clarin newspaper and cable TV empire. Clarin has responded with a blitz of damaging stories, many focusing on the first couple's finances.

”The government is in an open war against the media“ said Daniel Kerner, of the political consultancy Eurasia Group. ”Journalists for the first time since 2003 have a strong incentive to start reporting on these issues. I think we will see more corruption scandals. As the government is unpopular, people are more receptive to this kind of story“.

With the Kirchners fighting on multiple fronts – the media, farmers, the middle class, rival Peronist factions – voters have become weary. ”Nestor's aggressive style worked well initially when Argentina was digging itself out of the crisis,“ said Gracielea Romer, an analyst. ”The problem is that they have continued in that style and people are looking for leadership that is more conservative and less confrontational.”

At weekends the couple leaves Buenos Aires battles behind them and in the executive jet – Tango 1 – head for the icy winds and stark beauty of El Calafate.

If the polls are right the Kirchner dynasty will not survive the next election. In which case, Cristina and Nestor will have reason to stay on in, and savor, their Patagonian retreat. Their house affords a view of a magnificent lake the color of silver.