ARGENTINA: Cristina Snubbing Labor Leader Moyano To Court Middle Class Voters.

    BLOOMBERG / Longish profile
Hugo Moyano, 67,  the powerful leader of the 5.5mn member Teamster's union, is now being snubbed by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner...after 8 years of faithful service to the Kirchners.


Observers say by distancing herself from Moyano, CFK will attract middle-class voters turned off by many disruptive union-led road blockades.


Moyano, sometimes called "the Jimmy Hoffa of Argentina," won't take the snub quietly.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Running For President Again.

TELEGRAPH / R. Yapp

As if there were really any doubts...President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, 58, says she is running for re-election on 23 October.

On national television, CFK announced: "I always knew what I should do, and what I had to do."
"I didn't know because I am smart or ambitious; I knew it when thousands and thousands of people passed through here to say goodbye to him (Nestor) for the last time, and they shouted to me: 'Be strong, Cristina!'" 

Rumors of bad health, ie, hypotension problems and even possible manic depression...along with family pressures... fed some doubts about a second run.

She was first elected in 2007, succeeding her husband, Nestor Kirchner, who died suddenly in October.

ARGENTINA / UK: Prez. CFK Calls Britain "Crude Colonial Power In Decline."

BBC

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, aka CFK, described UK PM David Cameron’s refusal to discuss Falklands/Malvinas Islands’sovereignty...as “mediocre and almost stupid”.

The British PM recently stated that Falklands’sovereignty “is not negotiable. Period!”
He added “as far as the Falklands maintain their interest in remaining as British sovereign territory, they should remain that way, and there is nothing more to say about it”.

CFK says Cameron's attitude “reveals that the UK is a coarse colonial power” and added “colonialism is an antiquity”.

“Only arrogance and mediocrity can put an end to history; you can be certain I will continue tirelessly claiming the sovereignty over our Islands until they (UK) sits at the dialogue table to negotiate as marked by the UN resolution”, she declared.

ARGENTINA: Profile: President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

REUTERS/ Long PROFILE And READ/ By H. Popper, K. Grazina

     Wall Street hoped for policy changes from President Cristina after her husband Nestor's death.
     But it didn't happen..

    "In the past six months, she has cranked up pressure on the private sector with fresh price controls to battle double-digit inflation, tighter import curbs and a decree to beef up the state's presence on company boards in which the ANSES pensions agency holds a stake.
     Fernandez had already stunned the private sector in late 2008 by pushing the nationalization of private pension funds, a step that handed ANSES stakes in more than 40 Argentine companies.
     Such measures infuriate hostile business leaders and conservative newspaper columnists, who like to draw parallels with Venezuela's Socialist President Hugo Chavez. But they go down well with many voters, who blame the 2001-02 crisis on the free-market economic policies embraced in the 1990s."

ARGENTINA: With No Serious Opponent...President Cristina's Support Strong...At 56%.

M.PRESS/

   There are fewer than 6 months to go before the presidential election.
   And President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has a comfortable lead of 56%...and no serious opposition.
   The conservative mayor of  Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri just announced he will not challenge Cristina for the presidency and seek re-election as mayor.
    "After much reflection and debate, I feel and I'm convinced that the best place from where I can serve is the city of Buenos Aires," said Macri.

  “In the span of three and a half years (Cristina) lost over half her support but has now has recovered it again. This is the only government since 1983 (when democracy returned ) that has managed such a feat,”said a pollster.

   Polling show Kirchner is winning in all electoral districts...except Mendoza and Buenos Aires City.
   The October election could turn out to be a landslide for her.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Wants To Cap Foreign Land Holdings...At 1,000 Hectares.

MPRESS/

      On TV, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced a bill to limit land ownership for foreigners to 1,000 hectares/ 2,500 acres...and will send the bill to congress for its approval.

ARGENTINA: Kidnapped "Dirty War" Witness...Found In B.A..

NYTIMES/ A. Barrionuevo

   Víctor Martínez, 52, a crucial witness in the death of Argentine Bishop Carlos Horacio Ponce de León during its military dictatorship...was found 3 days after being kidnapped and warned not to testify in any death inquiry.
    President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (pictured above) ordered Argentina's security forces to search for him.
    Martinez was found wandering in a sedated state in the Caballito neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Fines More Economists For "Inflating" Inflation Estimates.

WSJ/ T. TURNER

 "Argentina's government has fined more economists for challenging official inflation estimates in what lawyers call a violation of freedom of speech.
   Consumer prices rose 10% in February from a year ago, according to the national statistics agency, Indec. But most economists say annual inflation is closer to 25%, irking government officials who deny inflation is a problem.
   On Tuesday, the government fined consulting firm Econviews 500,000 pesos ($123,442). It fined the consultancy abeceb.com an equal amount Monday for allegedly publishing inflation estimates that "lack scientific rigor."
    "This isn't about methodology or truth in advertising, as the government claims. It's really about silencing dissident voices," economist and former finance undersecretary Miguel Kiguel said.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Stokes Malvinas/ Falkland Nationalist Fires.

TELEGRAPH. UK/ R.Yapp/

   President Cristina Fernandez has ordered every school to have a classroom named after a soldier killed in the Malvinas/Falkland islands conflict with Britain...while announcing that "the Malvinas are Argentine for ever" and the government "will never yield in our claim".
    In Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz she also said: "I know we are going to recover what belongs to us."
   FM Hector Timerman has thanked the "commitment" and "concrete actions" of neighbors like Brasil, which recently turned away a British navy ship wanting to dock in Rio.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Still Mourning Nestor; Grief...As An Election Strategy.

AP/ D.REY



   "With the 23 October presidential elections looming for Argentina, Fernandez's grief for the loss of her lifelong partner has turned out to have political benefits, rallying backers, drawing sympathy and shielding her from attack even as she rises in the polls.
    No one can doubt Fernandez's pain, but she has maintained a strict mourning far longer than required by modern protocols, and invokes Kirchner's memory in nearly every speech, though rarely by name. She speaks of what "He" would have done, or how "He" would feel to see her so supported.
    Skeptics suggest she is using her mourning to political effect."
   After all it worked...for the Perons.

ARGENTINA: Coping With Runaway 25% Inflation.

BLOOMBERG / E. Raszewski / Long Read/

   Inflation in Argentina is surging.
   Officials say the rate is about 11%... but independent economists claim it's really about 25%.
   If true, Argentina trails only Venezuela as having the the highest inflation in the world.
  How are Argentine's coping?
  The nation's 40 million people are buying like crazy to protect themselves from rising prices.
 “We had it much worse,” says a  taxi driver. “I was a teenager working in a store when we had hyperinflation. I remember the owner coming up to me one day and saying ‘Don’t sell anything’ because we didn’t know how much it would cost to replace it.”

ARGENTINA: FM Timerman Neglecting Ambassadorships; Cristina Reportedly Wary Of His Ambition.

M.PRESS/

    Three notable Argentine ambassadorial vacancies exist... in Beijing, Moscow and London.
    There has been no Moscow ambassador since October 30.
   And last January, Buenos Aires' man in Beijing was removed after misunderstandings with the Chinese and  cool trade relations.
     Plus, there will also be no ambassador in London until December 2012 to protest the second round of oil exploration in the Falkland Islands’ waters. The last ambassador there, Federico Mirré, left his post in 2008.
     Buenos Aires is blaming the unfilled posts on Minister of Foreign Affairs Hector Timerman,
  (pictured above) aka Twitterman for his frequent tweets.
    President Cristina's inner circle also suspects Timerman  may want to be president.
    He recently made several impolitic statements about President Kirchner's re-election.

ARGENTINA: Book Fair Choice Vargas Llosa Continues To Raise Left's Hackles.

LIVING IN PERU /

   Since Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa was chosen to open Argentina's annual book fair, criticism by intellectuals of President Cristina Fernandez for picking him has been growing.
   Even Cristina's own cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez doesn't like the choice.
   In a recent radio interview, Fernandez called the Peruvian novelist a "reactionary right-winger," and said "Vargas Llosa is an enemy of popular governments, particularly that of Argentina, which he has insulted millions of times gratuitously and for no reason."

ARGENTINA: Cristina Launches Probe Into Agribiz Tax Evasion; Opens Congress With Pledges.

AP/

   The offices of 48 agribusinesses, including Cargill and Bunge, have been raided by 740 federal agents.
    They are searching for info on millions in profits hidden in shell companies and by suspicious transactions.
     Fernandez criticized the industry before Congress and wants new penalties "so that evaders go to jail".
    She claims that farmers and ranchers provided just 2.8% of tax revenues last year -- about equal to private schools.
      "Either they're charging very expensive tuition, or there's evasion in the main sector of our economy that needs to be tackled," Fernandez said.

MORE DETAILS:  AP: On Cristina's Congressional address:
    Besides jailing tax evaders, Fernandez wants tougher money laundering laws and limits to foreign ownership of land. She also said  there was no truth that she would try to change the constitution to eliminate presidential term limits. "Don't have fear. Nobody is forever".
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9LMKI5O0

ARGENTINA: Former Secretary Claims She Was Nestor's Mistress For Years.

M.PRESS/

   Elizabeth Miriam Quiroga, 50, claims she formed a “strong union” with the late former president Nestor Kirchner after she began working for him in the 1990s.
    She said her relationship began when he was the governor of Santa Cruz in the nineties and continued when she became his secretary after he won the presidency in 2003.
    Quiroga is blaming her dismissal from a government job a month ago on Nestor's current wife, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
   “Maybe because some people say that I was Kirchner's lover. Cristina must have heard this.
It was well known that I was Kirchner's lover. I had a strong union with him. I left everything to come with him from the south. I left my family.”

ARGENTINA: Old Enemy Inflation Returns With A Vengeance...And Official Denial; FM Timerman Claims U.S. Teaching Oppressive Tactics.

NYTIMES/ ALEXI BARRIONUEVO / 
Overview /

   Argentina's longtime enemy rapid inflation is soaring again.
   It rose by 25 to 30 percent in 2010, the highest level since the 2002 devaluation.
     But President Cristina Kirchner insists it is not a problem.
   Yet many independent economists and officials claim that the government’s national statistics agency has been grossly under-reporting inflation and poverty for four years.
     “People aren’t saving anything anymore,” said shopper Mercedes Fontao. “They are spending what they have and living for the moment, and going into heavy debt on cards to keep it going.”

AND: By MATT MOFFETT:  Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman has suggested that a U.S.-sponsored police-training program was teaching oppressive tactics to the Buenos Aires police force.
     It shows the growing tensions between President Cristina K. and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, a rival candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122374127425098.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

BRASIL / ARGENTINA : Dilma Meets With Cristina; Hydro And Nuke Accords Signed.

M. PRESS/

   The two female presidents of the two largest GDPs in South America met for 5 hours in Buenos Aires.
  For Brasil's new President Dilma Rousseff, her first choice for a visit was not a accidental decision.
    “It was not a casual decision to pick Argentina (and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner), as my first foreign destination” said Rousseff. “I'm here to promote our nations' relationship and make it stronger than ever in both their commercial, political and cultural ties”.
     They signed agreements over nuclear energy and bio-fuels and trade, including the construction of two hydroelectric dams and cooperation in the development of nuclear research reactors.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Reportedly Upset Over Obama Trip Snub.

 

M.PRESS/

   President Obama's announcement during the annual State of the Union address that he would visit “key leaders of the (South American) continent” is upsetting many in Argentine since his declared itinerary includes Brasil, Chile and El Salvador...but NOT Buenos Aires.

   His office has also announced a visit... to Colombia in 2012.

   President Cristina Kirchner and Obama have held only one short meeting and that...at a multinational summit.

ARGENTINA: Surging Soy Price Bolsters Once Troubled Credit Risk And Cristina.

BLOOMBERG/ Ben Bain and Drew Benson/

   The price of soybeans has jumped 55 percent price in just the second half of 2010 and is now at a 29-month high thanks to dry, hot weather caused by the La Nina pattern that has caused drought in Argentina and Brasil .
   Argentina's credit rating and its recently beleagured President Cristina Fernandez are benefitting mightily from the oil seed price surge as the world's third largest producer.
    The cost of protecting Argentine debt against non-payment for five years with credit-default swaps has tumbled 41 basis points, or 0.41 percentage point this week.
   It has even fallen below contracts for Ireland for the first time and is within 37 basis points of Portugal.
   A remarkable turnaround.

ARGENTINA: Cristina Copes Without Nestor But His Sudden Death Has Boosted Her Popularity.

LATIMES/  Ken Bensinger /
 
      It has been 8 weeks since former President Nestor Kirchner, 60, suffered a fatal heart attack and plunged his widow current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and much of the country into grief.
     President Fernandez, 57, struggles to hold back her tears and continues to dress in black.
    “Kirchner is not here anymore, despite the slogans. I live it that way. I must lead by example as your partner. He deserves us to make an effort, because he put too much strength to transform society,” she has said.
    But Nestor's tragic and sudden passing has only boosted her popularity. Before his death, Fernandez had an approval rating of about 35%  mainly because of her combative style.
    But since his death, Fernandez's approval rating is above 65% and last month, 44% of voters polled by  Equis said that they would vote for Fernandez next fall.