Latin America

Fernández on the back foot ahead of Argentina’s midterm election

Crime and currency devaluation make the headlines as outsider libertarian economist Javier Milei tilts the political needle

argentina elections fernández
Vice President Cristina Kirchner and President Alberto Fernández during the closing campaign rally in the Buenos Aires province. Photo: Twitter/@Kicillofok

President Alberto Fernández of Argentina enters tomorrow’s midterm elections on the back foot. Not only did his administration suffer a resounding primary defeat two months ago, but the administration has spent the closing stages of the campaign under fire on issues that are key in any election, ranging from crime to the economy.

If the November 14 midterms show similar (or worse) results for Mr. Fernández than the September 12 primaries, the ruling Peronist coalition could lose the Senate for the first time in modern democratic history, opening the door to wider political changes.

The week of buildup saw a large street protest in Ramos Mejía, in Greater Buenos Aires, after the murder of a shopkeeper in the city center by a recently-freed former convict. Local protests after a crime are not unusual, but what is uncommon is seeing the anger directed at national politicians, or the police throwing tear gas at thousands of middle-class protestors fearing they might storm the local police station, after several of them confronted orders to stand back.

Not far from Ramos Mejía, in a much poorer area of Greater Buenos Aires known as González Catán — a typical Peronist stronghold — a local 78-year old social leader was executed point blank on his doorstep in what the media described as a drug-related murder, linked to the victim’s complaints of local gangs. 

It is in these areas that the Fernández administration is hoping to gain votes on Sunday, but crime is perhaps the issue where the Mauricio Macri-led opposition is...

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