The Contested Meanings of Argentina’s April Primaries

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When reading the murky tealeaves of Argentina’s PASO primary elections (primarias abiertas simultáneas y obligatorias) in Salta, Mendoza, Santa Fe and the city of Buenos Aires in April, various political soothsayers attempted to divine their implications for the presidential election later this year.  Prophecies revolved around each prognosticator’s attitude concerning the left-leaning Peronista bloc of outgoing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the Frente para la Victoria (FPV), also known as the Kirchneristas.  Her critics remain consistently apoplectic over her economic policies, but the likely opposition candidate (though strong in the capital city) may not have the popular following throughout the country to dislodge the FPV and impose a return to neoliberal economic orthodoxy.