argentina elects second female president

Photo Credit: EFE

Argentina's first lady, Cristina Fernandez, has been elected as president of that country. Fernandez claimed victory after viewing early results and exit polls that revealed she had avoided a runoff and had won the election outright, according to the Associated Press.

Fernandez's husband, President Nestor Kirchner, is credited with Argentina's rebound from a 2001 economic collapse, and much of her support is due to his popularity.

She has been compared to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who like her is a lawyer and senator who soldiered alongside a husband as he rose from small-state governor to his nation's presidency.

"We have won amply," she proclaimed, Kirchner standing at her side. "But this, far from putting us in a position of privilege, puts us instead in a position of greater responsibilities and obligations."

The article indicates that six independent television networks, a radio station and an opposition newspaper have all reported that Fernandez has won the election handily. Challengers are still hoping for a runoff election.

The first lady will assume the presidency in December.

Fernandez is the second female president, but the first to be elected by the voters. Juan Perón's third wife, Isabel Martínez de Perón, assumed the presidency after his death in 1974. Perón was removed by military coup two years later. She was arrested in early 2007 in connection with the forced disappearance of subversives under her presidency.