Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández, left, and Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner smile after taking the oath of office at the Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, December 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Alberto Fernández assumed the presidency of Argentina on Tuesday, returning the country to the ranks of left-leaning nations at a moment of right-wing resurgence in the Western Hemisphere.
Taking the vice presidency was Cristina Fernández, 66, a polarizing figure who served as president from 2007 to 2015 and whose presence has raised questions about the extent of her influence in the new administration.
Alberto Fernández, a 60-year-old lawyer from the country’s center-left Peronist movement, faces the grave and immediate challenge of trying to pull Argentina from economic crisis. The country has a 35% poverty rate and is struggling to make debt payments on time.
The economy is expected to shrink 3% by the end of 2019, with inflation at 55%.
Outgoing leader Mauricio Macri became the first non-Peronist president to complete his term in 74 years, a landmark seen as a sign of Argentina’s maturing democracy.
The new president said on Twitter that he would dedicate himself to “putting my dear Argentina back on its feet.”
Gracias a todos y a todas por el apoyo y los mensajes de cariño. Empieza una nueva etapa y tenemos el desafío de poner a nuestra querida Argentina nuevamente de pie. Sé que cuento con ustedes. Cuenten conmigo.
— Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) December 10, 2019
Alberto Fernández served as head of Cristina Fernández’s Cabinet for the beginning of her time in power and many wonder if the new vice president will wield outsized power in the new government. She and Alberto Fernández have denied that.
However, close allies of Cristina Fernández have already been named to key government positions and her son is head of the governing party in the lower house of the legislature.
Peronists cheered as the pair were inaugurated, saying they had high hopes for an improved quality of life.
Argentina’s new President Alberto Fernández, left, greets outgoing president Mauricio Macri after receiving from him the presidential sash at the Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, December 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
“I see a lot of people unemployed, a lot of hunger, and that is very frustrating,” said Claudia Pouso, a 57-year-old retiree. “I want everything to be turned around, more jobs for people. My daughter works in the hospital and there is nothing there…. Everything needs to change.”
Outgoing Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio praised Alberto Fernández’s conciliatory attitude toward his political opponents, and his openness toward dialogue.
“We have to give the next government the benefit of the doubt, he needs help and we will help,” Frigerio said.
The incoming president has already announced plans to fight poverty with the distribution of subsidized basic foods, and he has outlined measures to lower food prices and fight malnutrition in poor families.
EN VIVO | Ceremonia de asunción presidencial. https://t.co/9HOIOptrD5
— Alberto Fernández (@alferdez) December 10, 2019
He has also announced plans to raise retirees’ pensions and increase benefits for public employees and welfare recipients.
Alberto Fernández is expected to move Argentina away from close cooperation with the U.S. and other conservative governments that are trying to unseat Venezuela’s embattled socialist president, Nicolás Maduro.
Fernández is close to former left-leaning Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s populist president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Meanwhile, tensions have been rising between Fernández and far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, which Argentina’s main trading partner.
