Will Nestor Kirchner’s death leave a power vacuum in Argentina?
Nestor Kirchner, former Argentine president and husband to Argentina’s current leader, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, died suddenly of a heart attack Wednesday. He was 60 years old. Kirchner served as president from 2003-2007, and pulled Argentina out of severe economic crisis. He also encouraged judicial changes that brought hundreds of dictatorship-era figures who had previously benefited from an amnesty to trial. While his wife Cristina Fern-ndez de Kirchner won the presidential election in 2007, analysts say Nestor was the power behind the throne and expected him to run in the up-coming election in 2011.
Mark Jones, Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies at Rice University, talks about what this popular leader’s death means for his country.
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