Cristinian Era

So today's inauguration day! Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is going to take office, after receiving the presidential band and the presidential cane and, I suppose, the customary presidential hug, and we're starting four more years of Kirchnerism.

Things haven't been that bad, to be sure. When you consider we could've been treated to a third serving of Carlos Menem, and then you see how much things have improved partly thanks to Kirchner's disregard for "orthodox" economics, we should all be kissing the ground Mr. K walks, if only it weren't so disgusting to kiss a ground sticky with the slime of Alberto Fernández, Julio De Vido et al.

Mauricio Macri took office in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (pop. 2.7 million) yesterday, and Hermes Binner will take office as governor of the Province of Santa Fe (pop. 3 million) tomorrow. A right-wing businessman without a real party, and a moderate Socialist politician with a party that gets to have a governor elected for the first time in history, are going to rule the third and fourth most populated districts in Argentina alongside Cristina, and one should be concerned how this will work out for federalism, seeing how the national administration has concentrated power and money lately.

But enough of politics. We're going to see endless discussions about this. Cristina's inaugural speech (I foresee), and also her dress, shoes, hairdo and makeup, are going to be dissected and thoroughly analyzed by self-proclaimed experts in... whatever it takes to do that analysis. The international media will remark the extraordinary election of a female president in a typical sexist Latin American country, ignoring the generalized feeling (confirmed by surveys) that most Argentinians couldn't care less if the president is a man, a woman, or a hermaphroditic chimpanzee-orangutan hybrid, as long as she/he/it solves some of the pressing problems that Néstor Kirchner has left us, or has left unattended.

So Cristina, I didn't vote for you, but we're on the same boat, and if you can't sail it right, we're sinking together (I know you won't do the "captain stays with her boat" thing, though — too practical for that). Good luck to you. You're going to need it.