With today's presidential elections in Argentina, an era ends: that of Cristina Kirchner, in office since December 10, 2007, when she took over the legacy of her husband Nestor, who died two months earlier but who, after two terms, cannot be re-elected .
By a curious coincidence, there are three candidates of Italian origin in the running to succeed Krichner. The first is the Peronist Daniel Scialpi, former champion of offshore motorboats (he lost an arm in a race), great-grandfather from Molise, governor of the province of Buenos Aires and great favorite of the eve: "As a Peronist I will govern for all of you" he said in the last rally.
Then there is Mauricio Macri, former mayor of Buenos Aires and owner of Boca Juniors, supported by entrepreneurs and the powerful farmers' lobby: his father Franco, who hates him, was born in Rome, in the Prati district, even if he Calabrians, and made a fortune as a builder before being licensed by Fiat and Peugeot to build cars in Argentina.
Macri carries forward a centre-right line. Macri, it is not known how rightly, is defined as the Argentine Berlusconi because of the binomial sport-politics.
Finally in the running is the post-Peronist candidate Segio Massa, a Sicilian father, former minister in the Kirchner governments, with whom he later broke off relations: his star, however, seems tarnished.
However it turns out and while keeping Argentina's unpredictability, major political upheavals are not foreseen, even if Kirchner's welfare and populist line could ease a bit.
On the other hand, it is to be hoped that, after the cooling off of recent years, relations between Argentina and Italy can improve. With mutual benefit. This is what the many large Italian groups are also hoping for (from Telecom Italia to Tenaris, from Pirelli to FCA) which have been present in Argentina for many years.
