Argentina's president inadvertently helping his rival...?

it's always interesting to follow the political scene in argentina... as a friend of mine jokingly says, argentina could become an extremely wealthy country if it just charged a $10 per day "entertainment tax" on every tourist and resident ex-pat... just watching the political shenanigans is the best show around...

[Nestor] Kirchner can boast of some outstanding achievements in the three years he has been in office now. He rebuilt the presidential authority that was severely damaged amid Argentinas worst-ever economic crisis. And the economy grew 30 percent. He forced creditors to swallow a 67 billion-dollar debt haircut and purged every state agency in what the government says was a crusade against entrenched corruption. Kirchner is also implacably fostering the persecution of hundreds of armed forces members accused of violating human rights during the 1976-1983 dictatorship that killed or caused the disappearance of at least 14,000 people.

Many middle-class voters consider that if elected president, former economy minister Roberto Lavagna would ensure the continuity of Argentina’s economic recovery while smoothly introducing necessary changes, including doing away with incumbent President Néstor Kirchner’s ruthless style, observers have told the Herald.
Another change many would welcome would be steering clear from the close links that centre-left Peronist Kirchner has forged with populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

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Nestor Kirchner ......................... Roberto Lavagna

But his steamroller approach popularly known as "the K style" has left many potential voters with the feeling that he has little concern for institutional life, and paved the way for the moderate Lavagna to appear as a strong possible candidate for the 2007 presidential election.

Lavagna is widely credited with being the architect of economic recovery under the government of president Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003) after a five-year recession that caused poverty to skyrocket in erstwhile rich Argentina. He is also credited with the handling of the debt negotiations.

Kirchner fired him in November after Lavagna refused to cooperate with the October mid-term vote campaign.

consciously or unconsciously, kirchner has adopted some of the same tactics as george bush, chief among them the exercise of unfettered executive power, politically exiling critics, and stonewalling journalists... just another role model for democracy the u.s. provides to the rest of the world's leaders who, believe it or not, really do pay attention to what the u.s. does...

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