Cristina Reelected in Landslide

Hopes for continued economic growth beat out fear of inflation and a diffuse opposition that never caught a spark. On Sunday, CFK won nearly 54% of the vote in Argentina's presidential election, besting her closest competitor by over 36%. She's also regained a majority in Congress. Of the 9 provincial governor's races, her allies only lost in 1. Voting is compulsory in Argentina.

How crushing was her victory?

Argentinean news outlets are running stories asking, "Donde perdio Cristina?" Turns out, not in too many places. She lost in Argentina's Antarctic outpost community (the winner took it with 68 votes) and in only one department of Buenos Aires province, Rivadavia.

Just about all you need to know about Macri

La ciudad de Buenos Aires votes today for su jefe de gobierno. La ley seca is in effect. Clubs and bars closed at the stroke of midnight, which is to say they probably didn't open at all, and no alcohol will be sold today. Running for a second mandato, is Mauricio Macri, son of one of Argentina's wealthiest developers, kidnapping victim, and enemy of contemporary art. The video above, from the program, Caiga Quien Caiga, may be all you need to know about the man.

Macri got his big break when his dad, who had millions of dollars of business with Boca Juniors, helped his son get elected as president of the club. From there he sprung into politics and was elected mayor in 2007. He has been implicated in an enemies list spying scandal which was conducted by his appointed chief of the metropolitan police, Fino Palacios. Palacios in turn, has been implicated in and prosecuted for various crimes, including a cover up related to the 1994 AIMA bombing which killed 85 people and the extrajudicial killings of protesters during the civil unrest of December 2001.

Other than that, Macri is known for his deep-seeded rivalry with CFK, especially over control of security forces in the city, his conservative base of support, and his battles against unions and residents of the villas.

La Casa Rosada is hoping that Daniel Filmus, current federal senator and former government minister, academic, and communist activist, can draw Macri into a second round run-off.

CFK En Su Momento

Last night President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner confirmed for the first time that she will in fact seek reelection. Even though the weekend deadline for declaring was fast approaching and the streets are covered in posters, graffiti, and other forms of expression of support for the president, she had not yet said definitively whether she would be jumping in.

To understand why the vastly popular president would even ponder such a question, you have to remember that she had planned on reverting to the role of first lady/no. 1 adviser for her husband's second run as president. That all ended last October when he died. Since then, CFK has genuinely been in deep mourning. She and her husband were a once in a generation power couple on the international stage, akin to the Clintons. She would now have to face her battles alone. However, she took full advantage of her opponent's inability to knock her. It would look too unseemly to attack a newly widowed president.

In May of this year, as the country began looking for answers about her intentions, she had an emotional moment while speaking at some factory opening. She confessed that she was tired and didn't know if she had it in her to run again. It was all caught on camera and blasted across the country. "A stroke of genius!" the commentary class roared. And so, CFK had created this space where she couldn't be attacked but kept building support for another run all while admitting she may not really want to.

Now that she's said she's in, the next question to be answered is who she will pick to be her running mate. Word is out that she's summoned the governor of the poor northern province of Chaco to meet at La Casa Rosada this evening. The Supreme Court Justice, Eugenio Zaffaronni has also been mentioned. Her previous vice president turned into one of her biggest public opponents and this choice will say a lot about what reforms, even constitutional reforms, she may have in store for her next term, which appears to be assured. What also seems assured is that she will be challenged by a troublesome inflation rate that no one in her administration will level with the country about.