Let me begin by just talking about one of the most basic things in this country that I think may drive its political nature. Voting here is compulsory. This means EVERYONE who is a citizen MUST vote. It also means that since the election is tomorrow October 23.....no bars, clubs, or other late night entertainment places are open past midnight and even restaurants are not allowed to serve alcohol past then or all day Sunday. Voting here and the people truly being involved in democracy is a distinguishing characteristic of this country. In the United States more people vote for the American Idol than voted in the last election.....think about that for a second. Now imagine that voting was compulsory in the United States (this of course will never happen, but imagine if it did). How would elections be different? Would or country be more conservative, liberal, centrist? Would the same political figures get elected term after term after term? Would other citizens decide to run? What would the issues actually become and how quickly would those issues change from year to year?
Its pretty interesting to think about. Simply by having elections here on a Sunday, when no one is working, and banning the sale of alcohol during the election the Argentine citizens have concluded that the function of their government is something that warrants every citizen's sober input. Fascinating really. In the 2008 Presidential election America saw the highest voter turn out since 1968 with 56.8% of the eligible voting population actually casting a vote. Seriously??? Congratulations America almost a whole 2/3 of the people decided who the President would be. Why? Why do people not feel an obligation in the United States that the people here in Argentina feel to vote and be part of their democracy?
I don't know if I can answer that question, but I am going to go into a bit of a history lesson to try and delve into what I think may be the reason. In the United States, voters have not experienced a truly bad President or corrupt government in many many years. I know I may get a lot of flack for saying that, but the reality is in comparison to some countries there is not blatant corruption and the country is only just not beginning to truly feel the effects of going bankrupt and being in such a large amount of debt. In Argentina, at the end of the first year of President Bush, President de la Rúa was facing major riots here in Argentina. The country was going bankrupt, almost the entire government had some form of corruption, and the middle class was suffering terribly. Sound familiar to anyone? Anyway what happened here in Argentina is people took to the streets rioting, looting, setting things on fire, basically, a more Latin American style Occupy Wall Street Movement began. A total of 26 people died during the entire movement. President de la Rúa was actually airlifted out of La Casa Rosada after resigning from the Presidency on December 20th 2001.
This day and the day before, December 19th were actually so important to the middle class that was protesting it was actually documented in a song by the Gotan Project called Queremos Paz....which you can watch below....Youtube is amazing isn't it!
After the unrest the Senator Duhalde actually took over and became President of Argentina. His successor was Nestor Kirchner who proved to be a true man for the middle class here in Argentina. I only point this out for a few reasons. In America we talk about political families, but in Argentina they exist just as if not more frequently. Case and point while Nestor was President of Argentina in 2005, his wife ran for Senate against former President Duhalde's wife. Kirchner's wife won the seat and is now the most important political figure in Argentina. This is because she is now the President.
Let's delve into this a little more shall we. President Nestor Kirchner was the leader of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. He was succeed by his wife Cristina in the Presidency in 2008. The plan was to have Nestor run again this year and once again lead Argentina, however in October of 2010 he suffered from cardiac complications and passed away. Many questioned whether Cristina would continue leading the country and if she would run in her husband's place. She made the decision to continue her campaign and to run again for presidency in Argentina. The Kirchners are a true political couple. They both have made Argentina a country on the rise. Here is a video of Cristina talking about how Europe should be fixing their economy. Unfortunately I can't embed that video for some reason so just click here.
Beyond helping to turn around Argentina's economy, the South American power couple really did change a lot of social issues here in Argentina. Cristina specifically has become somewhat of a magnet for minority groups and the underprivileged in the country. She has helped with women's access to birth control, she legalized gay marriage throughout the entire country, she has started lots of public health campaigns, and she is continuing to increase her support for immigrants seeking refuge. Honestly, I would love this woman to come and run for political office in the US but that is just ridiculous so I will just keep going.
The way Argentina's primary system works is everyone basically runs against everyone else, so if the race isn't close you know who is going to win. Cristina overwhelmingly won the primary and is definitely going to win tomorrow unless something terrible should happen and the people of Argentina seem to be thrilled. One of the best political campaign ads I have seen so far for Cristina, is one where I think you finally begin to understand her tag line La Fuerza de Cristina. It is a video with her voice talking about the strength of him...the him of course referring to her husband. Even if you don't understand Spanish the video will get to you. The fact that this woman lost the love of her life and her strongest political partner and perseveres is testament to the true strength of Cristina and I think probably the reason for what is going to be a landslide. Here is the video....
Now I could go further into the politics of this country as they really are fascinating. However, I will leave it at this because quite honestly if you understand who the President of Argentina is and where she comes from then I have probably done my job with this post.
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