ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT CARLOS MENEM TROUNCED IN GOVERNOR'S RACE IN LA RIOJA PROVINCE.
Former Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem (1989-1999) appears to have come to the end to his political career after a humiliating third-place loss in the gubernatorial race in his home province of La Rioja. The winner, incumbent Gov. Luis Beder Herrera, is an ally of President Nestor Kirchner, meaning that the win in La Rioja could be a favorable sign for the campaign of Kirchner's wife Sen. Cristina Fernandez in her bid to take the presidency in October's election. The governor's race in the province of Tucuman also went overwhelmingly to the Kirchner-allied incumbent, which may be a sign that Fernandez's chances are strong there in October as well.
Positive sign for Cristina Fernandez's presidential bid
The 77-year-old Menem was easily defeated by Beder Herrera in the western province of La Rioja on Aug. 19, ending his comeback bid. With 88% of the vote counted late Aug. 19, Gov. Beder Herrera had 41% of the ballots. "We have won by a wide margin," said Beder Herrera to cheering supporters.
Menem, a conservative, free-market supporter who had used two terms as La Rioja governor as a springboard to the presidency and the helm of the Partido Justicialista-peronista (PJ) party, placed a distant third with 22%. Menem said, "The voters have spoken and we, as democratic citizens, must heed them."
Kirchner and others have blamed Menem's close alliance with the US and adherence to Washington's policies and the dictates of international financing institutions for the 2002 economic crisis (see NotiSur, 2001-11-30, 2001-12-14 and 2002-01-11).
Elected a federal senator of La Rioja in 2005 (see NotiSur, 2005-11-04), Menem had talked about a comeback bid for the presidency but ran for governor instead. Earlier, in 2003, Menem had also talked of a comeback, but a first-round in the presidential election left it apparent that he could not win against Kirchner, who was then a relative-unknown on the national political stage (see NotiSur, 2003-05-23).
Newspapers throughout South America viewed Menem's loss as the likely end of the ex-president's political career.
Analysts are tentatively characterizing it as the start of Sen. Fernandez's presidential win. Earlier polls showed Fernandez failing to win the clear majority of the vote necessary to avoid having to hold a runoff. But no other candidate in the race has the support she does, and more recent polls are showing that she may well win in one round, thanks in part to divisions among the opposition.
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