Argentina re-elects Fernandez

GlobalPost

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected today with a landslide victory, the Buenos Aires Herald reports.

Fernandez, 58, was elected for a second four-year term with more than 54 percent of the votes over second place finisher, Hermes Binner, governor of Santa Fe province, the Washington Post reports.

Read more at GlobalPost: Capital flight plagues Argentina

When today’s results are confirmed it will mark the biggest election win since democracy returned to Argentina in 1983 with Raul Alfonsin, who won with almost 52 percent of the vote, Buenos Aires Herald reports. Binner fell far behind Fernandez with only 14 percent of the vote, Reuters reports.

Still, voters and investors worry that Fernandez will use this strong win as a call to adopt more policies that upset farmers and business leaders in the past, Reuters reports. Fernandez has nationalized private pension funds, raised soy export taxes and kept quotas on wheat and corn shipments, which critics have said hurt farming, Reuters reports.

Read more at GlobalPost: Brazil's slowdown can hurt neighboring Argentina

Fernandez won over 50 percent of the votes in August’s primary, Buenos Aires Herald reports. She has made a huge comeback from the low approval ratings in her first term.

"When you look at what's happening in the world, you can feel very proud to be Argentine," Fernandez, Reuters reports.

Official results will be available beginning at about 8 p.m. New York time, said Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo, Bloomberg reports.

Will you support The World? 

The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?