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Argentina: Presidential Elections, a Review of Blogs

Categories: Latin America, Argentina, Citizen Media, Elections, Politics

Argentina's presidential election had a pretty predictable result: the reelection of the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. After her clear victory in the primary elections [1] a few months ago, the 37 points that separated the president from the second place did not even surprise the opposition. The large victory motivated many bloggers to analyze the political situation. Since 2009, the pro-Kirchner blogosphere has shown great dynamism, although other political parties have also tried to gain ground.

We begin this summary with the blogs that are politically closest to the government, starting with Arte Politica [2] [es], where its writers state:

Somos un país mejor porque, 28 años después, la democracia argentina está más viva y más vibrante que nunca. Con elecciones limpias, libres, y en donde participa rutinariamente casi el 80% de los electores.

We are a better country because, 28 years later, democracy in Argentina is more alive and more vibrant than ever. With clean, free, elections where nearly 80% of voters are routinely involved.
[3]

Voters wait to cast their vote in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 23, 2011. Demian Martinez, Copyright Demotix

In Bolazos de los medios [4] [es] Ariel Andres Tapia recalls the multiple “prophecies” published by the media from 2009 to this year, which argued that the days of the kirchnerista government were numbered. Blog El Magma [5] [es] discusses the same issue.

Mundo Perverso [6] [es] points out that:

Ayer fue un día verdaderamente histórico. Luego de 4 años de gobernar contra las cuerdas, con la presión constante y operaciones de prensa permanentes en contra, con un vicepresidente opositor y con una oposición que no tuvo límites ni reparos a la hora del odio y la irracionalidad, ganó Cristina y, con ella, ganó Argentina.

Yesterday was a truly historic day. After 4 years of ruling on the ropes, with constant pressure and permanent press operations against her, an opposing vice president and an opposition that had no limits or qualms in terms of hatred and irrationality, Cristina won, and with her, Argentina won.

La Lectora Provisoria [7] [es], a blog identified with Elisa Carrió [8]‘s Coalición Cívica party, says:

Ahora, estoicismo. Habrá que digerir la apabullante derrota y no pensar demasiado en los tiempos que tenemos por delante.

Now, stoicism. We'll have to accept the overwhelming defeat, and not dwell on the times ahead.

That's because their candidate for president, Carrió, came out last among the candidates, with less than 2%, when in the last presidential elections she was above 20%. In the pro-Kirchner blog, Militancia Kreativa [9] [es], they make fun of a Coalicion Civica (CC) candidate for congress, Fernando Iglesias, who didn't get enough votes to get elected for congress. Iglesias has published an entry in his blog [10] [es] evaluating the October 23 results.

In his blog, Hernán Haines [11] [es] states

Hubo un 45 por ciento del electorado que no la votó [se refiere a la presidenta] y, por lo tanto, no merece ser descalificado ni subestimado (…) Sra. de Kirchner, por favor, tome nota de lo que sucede en el resto del mundo. En las naciones en donde los gobiernos se vienen abajo es, justamente, porque sus líderes, electos por grandes mayorías, luego se olvidan de su pueblo y éste, más tarde o más temprano, reacciona.

There was a 45 percent of electors who didn't vote for her [the president] and, thus, those voters don't deserve to be disqualified nor underestimated (…) Mrs. Kirchner, please take note of what happens in the rest of the world. In the countries where governments collapse, it's precisely because their leaders, elected by majority, later forget about their population and they, sooner or later, react.

In the blog of Comuna 12 [12] [es] from the Unión Cívica Radical [13], one of the most traditional parties in Argentina, which reached the third place in the presidential elections, Ernesto Sanz analyzes the elections and the challenges the party will have to face in the future.

Finally, Fabio [14] [es] looks at the differences in the number of votes the presidential candidates achieved in the primary elections and the final elections.