Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Christina Fernández and Nestor Kirchner

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 March 2009
DOI10.1177/002070200906400121
Published date01 March 2009
AuthorYasmeen Mohiuddin
Subject MatterMovers & Shakers
Yasmeen Mohiuddin is a New Delhi-based journalist who has con tributed regularly to
International Journal’s Movers & Shakers rubric.
Few first ladies and even fewer first gentlemen harbour political ambitions
more openly than Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández, and still fewer
actually manage to turn those goals into political reality. Whe n former
Mexican first lady Marta Sahagún de Fox raised the prospect of a presidential
bid to succeed her husband, Vicente Fox, she was forced into a humiliating
retreat—mostly due to her premature meddling and political
miscalculations. Then again, Sahagún didn’t have the political pedigree of
Fernández, or her husband’s approval ratings on which to piggyback. If it is
true that behind every man there is a great woman, then it is equally true
that Fernández has formed a solid team with her husband, former president
Nestor Kirchner.
As the first woman to be elected president of Argentina, Fernández had
a relativ ely easy road to the
Casa Rosada,
or pink house. Her gend er was
never much of an issue, either because of her p rominence or because
Argentina has been enamoured of female leaders in the past (witness the
unelected Isabel Perón and Eva Perón, who never held office yet is revered
as a cult ural and political icon). It helped that she was glamorous and
fashionable, two things it never hurts to be in Latin America.
M O VE RS & S HA KE RS
Yasmeen Mohiuddin
Christina Fernández
and Nestor Kirchner
Latin America’s first couple
| International Journal | Winter 2008-09 | 255 |

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT