Wednesday, October 31, 2007

President's Wife Elected President In Argentina

First Lady and Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the 54-year-old wife of Nestor Kirchner, the current president of Argentina, became the first woman elected president of the country on Sunday by winning 45% of the vote, at least 20 percentage points of her nearest rival (who also was female) in a multi-candidate field.

Often called the "Hillary Clinton of South America," Fernández mentioned the Democratic frontrunner for the U.S. Presidential nomination in her first press conference while acknowledging the similarities between the two: Both are senators and lawyers who accompanied husbands from obscure state governorships as they rose to the presidency.

Fernández will be inaugurated December 10.

According to The Bilerico Project, one of the President-elect's strongest supporters in the Argentine legislature is also the sponsor of a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Argentina and argues that Fernandez' election augurs well for the LGBT community in Argentina. According to election results the First Lady did NOT do as well in the urban areas of the country, especially Buenos Aires where one would expect members of the LGBT community are over-represented.

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