Kirchnerism

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in formal presidential attire, including the presidential scepter. Husband and former president Néstor Kirchner stands behind her.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in formal presidential attire, including the presidential scepter. Husband and former president Néstor Kirchner stands behind her.

Kirchnerism (Spanish: kirchnerismo) is an Argentinian political group formed by the supporters of the late Néstor Kirchner, president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, president from 2007 until 2015. Although the Kirchners are members of the Justicialist Party (the original, official and largest Peronist party, founded by Juan Perón in 1947), Peronism itself is a broad movement, and many Peronists oppose them ("Anti-Kirchnerist Peronism").

Kircherism is generally considered to fall into the category of left-wing populism.[1][2][3][4]

On the other hand, Kirchnerism, although originally a faction in the Justicialist Party, later received support from other smaller Argentine political parties (like the Communist Party or the Humanist Party), and from factions of some traditional parties (like the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party). In parties which are divided along Kirchnerist/Anti-Kirchnerist lines, the members of the Kirchnerist faction are often distinguished with the letter K (for instance "peronistas/justicialistas K", "radicales K" or "socialistas K"), while the factions opposing kirchnerism are similarly labeled with the expression Anti-K.

In response to the rise of Kirchnerism, the term "Anti-Kirchnerism" has arisen to describe those sectors and persons, as much within as without Peronism, who opposed the governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández.

Characteristics

Rally of youth belonging to La Cámpora. Taken April 2012.
Rally of youth belonging to La Cámpora. Taken April 2012.

Both Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner come from the left wing of Peronism, and both began their political careers as members of the Peronist Youth (Juventud Peronista). Many of the Kirchners' closest allies belong to the Peronist left. Antikirchnerists often criticize this ideological background with the term setentista ("seventies-ist"), suggesting that Kirchnerism is overly influenced by the populist struggle of the 1970s.

Transversalism

Unlike his predecessor Eduardo Duhalde, Néstor Kirchner was a Peronist but distrusted the Justicialist Party as a support for his government. He proposed instead a "Transversalist" policy, seeking the support of progressive politicians regardless of their party.[13] Thus, he got support from factions of the PJ, the Radical Civic Union (which were called "Radicales K") and small centre-left parties.

Kirchner neglected the internal politics of the PJ, and kept instead the Front for Victory party, which was initially an electoral alliance in his home province of Santa Cruz, and in the 2003 elections premiered in the federal political scene. Some politicians favored by this policy were Aníbal Ibarra, mayor of Buenos Aires for the Broad Front and supported as Kirchnerist, and Julio Cobos, governor of Mendoza for the UCR and elected as vicepresident of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2007.

The Transversalist project was eventually dismissed. Kirchner took control of the PJ, and some "Radicales K" slowly returned to the "Anti-K" faction of their party, most notably vice-president Julio Cobos and Governor of Catamarca province Eduardo Brizuela del Moral; while other very prominent Radical politicians remained in the "K" wing of the Radical Civic Union, such as provincial governors Gerardo Zamora of Santiago del Estero, Ricardo Colombi of Corrientes and Miguel Saiz of Río Negro.

Criticism

Kirchnerism has encountered opposition from various sectors of Argentine society, which tend to criticize its personalism.[14]

In 2012 there was a massive anti-Kirchnerism protest in several cities within Argentina and also in several Argentinian embassies around the world. It became known as 8N.

In 2015 when Foreign Policy was discussing corruption in Latin America, it was stated that:[15]

"The viceroys of the colonial era set the pattern. They centralised power and bought the loyalty of local interest groups. [...] Caudillos, dictators and elected presidents continued the tradition of personalising power. Venezuela’s chavismo and the kirchnerismo of Ms Fernández are among today’s manifestations."

In an editorial published in October 2015, The Economist expressed the following view about the situation in Argentina:[16]

"Argentina needs change. As Ms Fernández slips out of office the economy is starting to crumble. Currency controls and trade restrictions [...] are choking productivity; inflation hovers at around 25%. [...] Argentina cannot seek external financing until it ends its standoff with creditors who rejected a debt-restructuring plan. Unless the new president quickly reverses Ms Fernández’s populist policies, a crisis is inevitable."

In an October 2015 opinion article published by Forbes, Kenneth Rapoza states -discussing the Argentine general election- that whatever replaces Kirchnerism "will be a significant improvement for Argentina.".[17] Philosopher Maximiliano E Korstanje lecturer at University of Palermo, and Fellow at University of Leeds UK, confirmed that "kirchnerites" appeals to "counterfeit politics", to cast a doubt in citizens while militancy does not tolerate doubts in their inner-circles. Doubts not only equal to a sign of weakness but also serve to create a parallel world which does not permeate with reality. The success of Kirchnerism to expand was associated to the manipulation of religious elements to handle with frustrated personalities in a way that makes the belief to "militancy" they are part of an historic revolution. Kirchnerismo found in some personalities or character a fertile ground to flourish, delineating the barrier of magic thought to understand reality. Unless regulated, kirchnerism may very well lead to terrorism.[18][19][20] In his book Conterfeit Politics, David Kelman professor of California State University at Fullerton, said that "the theory of conspiracy", sometimes is manipulated by populist governments, far from being a pathology of politics, seems to be associated to its core. This new tactic allows enhancing the legitimacy of militants with their leaders at the same time a barrier is delineated to name an external enemy.[21]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. "Argentina’s Kirchner Era Ends". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  2. Conniff, Michael L. (2012-07-31). Populism in Latin America: Second Edition. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817357092.
  3. Denissen, Marieke (2008-10-01). Winning Small Battles, Losing the War: Police Violence, the Movimiento Del Dolor and Democracy in Post-authoritarian Argentina. Rozenberg Publishers. ISBN 9051709641.
  4. Manzetti, Luigi (2009-01-01). Neoliberalism, Accountability, and Reform Failures in Emerging Markets: Eastern Europe, Russia, Argentina, and Chile in Comparative Perspective. Penn State Press. ISBN 0271035749.
  5. Reencuentro de Carlotto y Bonafini. Las titulares de las Abuelas y Madres de Plaza de Mayo fueron reunidas por Kirchner, Clarín 26 de mayo de 2006
  6. "Nestor Kirchner pide juicio a las Juntas Militares en 1983" - Video in Spanish
  7. "Kirchner: 'Menem el mejor presidente desde Perón". - Video in Spanish
  8. Bush y el ALCA sufrieron duro traspié en Mar del Plata, Voltaire net, 2005
  9. "Brasil intimó a Cristina: 'Tienen que desaparecer las barreras'" - Article in Spanish
  10. "José Mujica acusó a la Argentina de tener un proyecto 'autárquico' de país" - Article in Spanish
  11. Ginés García legalizaría el aborto, La Nación, 15 de febrero de 2005
  12. "El 'efecto Francisco' traba en el avance de la Guía para Abortos" - Article in Spanish
  13. Fraga, p. 46-47
  14. Néstor Kirchner y Cristina Fernández con la Legrand: “Yo completaré mi mandato”, Página/12, 16 de mayo de 2003
  15. "Democracy to the rescue?". Foreign Policy. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  16. "The end of kirchnerismo". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  17. "In Argentina, It's Good Riddance To Kirchnerism". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  18. Korstanje, M. (2014). Duda y realidad: El uso político de los Derechos Humanos. Revista Mad, (31), 73-92.
  19. Korstanje, M. E. (2016). Tergiversation of Human Rights, Deciphering the Core of Kirchnerismo. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 2, 60-67.
  20. Korstanje, M. E. (2013). Deconstruyendo la personalidad kirchnerista. Eikasia: revista de filosofía, (53), 221-248.
  21. Kelman, D. (2012). Counterfeit politics: Secret plots and conspiracy narratives in the Americas. Bucknell University Press.

External links

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