Presidency of Néstor Kirchner
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The Presidency of Néstor Kirchner began on 25 May 2003, when
2003 presidential election
Even though Kirchner ran for presidency with the support of Eduardo Duhalde, he was not the initial candidate chosen by the president. Trying to prevent a third term of Carlos Menem, he sought to promote a candidate that may defeat him, but Carlos Reutemann (governor of Santa Fe) did not accept and José Manuel de la Sota (governor of Córdoba) did not grow in the polls. He also tried with Mauricio Macri, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, Felipe Solá and Roberto Lavagna, to no avail. He initially resisted helping Kirchner, fearing that he may ignore Duhalde once in the presidency.[1]
Kirchner's electoral promises included "returning to a republic of equals".[citation needed] After the first round of the election, Kirchner visited the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who received him enthusiastically. He also declared he was proud of his radical left-wing political past.[2]
Although Menem, who was president from 1989 to 1999, won the first round of the election on April 27, 2003, he only got 24% of the valid votes — just 2% ahead of Kirchner. This was an empty victory, as Menem was viewed very negatively by much of the Argentine population and had virtually no chance of winning the
Policies
Economy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_y_Roberto_Lavagna-Buenos_Aires-23_de_agosto_de_2004.jpg/220px-N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_y_Roberto_Lavagna-Buenos_Aires-23_de_agosto_de_2004.jpg)
Argentina had faced a serious
Kirchner kept the Duhalde administration's Minister of the Economy, Roberto Lavagna. Lavagna also declared that his first priority now was social problems. Argentina's default was the largest in financial history, and it gave Kirchner and Lavagna significant bargaining power with the IMF, which loathes having bad debts on its books. During his first year of office, Kirchner achieved a difficult agreement to reschedule $84 billion in debts with international organizations, for three years. As of 2004, the initial indulgence ended, and the economic recovery induced the foreign powers to request a normalization in debt payment.[7] Although the IMF was highly unpopular in Argentina, Kirchner's good image (nearing 71% by that point) did not lower more than three or five points; with the exception of the far-left, most society was concerned with the possible consequences of a complete default.[8]
In the first half of 2005, the government launched a bond exchange to restructure approximately $81 billion of national public debt (an additional $20 billion in past defaulted interest was not recognized). Over 76% of the debt was tendered and restructured for a recovery value of approximately one third of its nominal value.[9]
On 15 December 2005, following
In a meeting with executives of multinational corporations on Wall Street—after which he was the first Argentine president to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange—Kirchner defended his "heterodox economic policy, within the canon of classic economics" and criticized the IMF for its lack of collaboration with the Argentine recovery.[12]
Domestic policy
When he was elected, Kirchner represented Duhalde in the long conflict between Menem and Duhalde. This allowed him to secure the loyalty of most of the
Shortly after coming into office, Kirchner made changes to the
2005 elections
Kirchner saw the
Human rights
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Néstor Kirchner made a priority of his presidency to reopen the cases related with the 1970s
Foreign policy
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_y_Lula_Da_Silva-Brasil-Marzo_2004.jpg/220px-N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_y_Lula_Da_Silva-Brasil-Marzo_2004.jpg)
Under Duhalde, Argentine foreign policy shifted from the "automatic alignment" with the United States during the 1990s, to one stressing stronger ties (economic and political) within Mercosur and with other Latin American countries, and rejecting the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Néstor Kirchner kept that policy.[9][22]
Conflict with Uruguay
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Controversies
Disappearance of Julio López
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Skanska
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Major legislation
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2011) |
- Derogation of the law of Full stop
- Derogation of the law of Obediencia Debida
2007 election
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Cristina_y_N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_-_cierre_de_campa%C3%B1a.jpg/220px-Cristina_y_N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner_-_cierre_de_campa%C3%B1a.jpg)
On 2 July 2007, President Kirchner announced he would not seek re-election in the October elections, despite having the support of 60% of those surveyed in polls. Instead, Kirchner intended to focus on the creation of a new political party.[23]
Personnel
Cabinet
Office | Holder | Term |
Vice President |
Daniel Scioli | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers | Alberto Fernández |
5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Rafael Bielsa | 5/2003 – 12/2005 |
Jorge Taiana | 12/2005 – 12/2007 | |
Ministry of Economics |
Roberto Lavagna | 5/2003 – 12/2005 |
Felisa Miceli | 12/2005 – 7/2007 | |
Miguel Peirano | 7/2007 – 12/2007 | |
Ministry of Defense |
José Pampuro | 5/2003 – 12/2005 |
Nilda Garré | 12/2005 – 12/2007 | |
Ministry of the Interior | Aníbal Fernández | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights | Gustavo Béliz | 5/2003 – 7/2004 |
Horacio Rosatti | 7/2004 – 6/2005 | |
Alberto Iribarne | 6/2005 – 12/2007 | |
Ministry of Federal Planning and Public Services | Julio de Vido | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology | Daniel Filmus | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Ministry of Labour and Social Security | Carlos Tomada | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
Ministry of Social Policy | Alicia Kirchner de Mercado |
5/2003 – 12/2005 |
Juan Carlos Nadalich | 12/2005 – 8/2006 | |
Alicia Kirchner de Mercado |
8/2006 – 12/2007 | |
Ministry of Health and Environment | Ginés González García | 5/2003 – 12/2007 |
See also
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-987-627-167-7.
References
- ^ Fraga, p. 19-20
- ^ Ezequiel Adamovsky (2003-05-19). "Who is Néstor Kirchner Argentina's new President?". ZNet. Archived from the original on 2005-11-07. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
- ^ Office of the President. [1] (25 May 2003).
- ^ IFES Election Guide. Election profile for Argentina.
- ^ Fraga, p. 24
- ^ Fraga, p. 43
- ^ Fraga, p. 44
- ^ Fraga, p. 55
- ^ a b Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 27 January 2006. Argentina's Néstor Kirchner: Peronism Without the Tears
- ^ Weisbrot, Mark, "Doing it their own way", International Herald Tribune, 28 December 2006
- ^ "Global Economic Prospects 2006/2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ La Nación, 21 September 2006. El Presidente tuvo 45 minutos para convencer a los inversores.
- ^ Fraga, p. 25
- ^ Fraga, pp. 31-32
- ^ Fraga, p. 32
- ^ a b Fraga, p. 46
- ^ Fraga, p. 47-48
- ^ Fraga, p. 50-51
- ^ Washington Times. 22 July 2003. Argentine leader defies pessimism.
- ^ BBC News. 25 May 2004. Argentine revival marks Kirchner first year.
- ^ Fraga, p. 37
- ^ Worldpress.org. September 2003. Kirchner Reorients Foreign Policy. Translated from article in La Nación, 15 June 2006.
- ^ MILENIO.COM » Planea Néstor Kirchner crear nuevo partido en Argentina Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine