In Argentina, an Economic Crisis Portends Political Chaos

MIN READOct 26, 2019 | 13:31 GMT

Demonstrators in Buenos Aires protest against the conservative economic policies of Argentine President Mauricio Macri in August 2019.

(RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

In the primary presidential vote on Aug. 11, populist candidate Alberto Fernandez, handily defeated the country's conservative president, Mauricio Macri. For months, polls had given Macri a fair chance of winning the Oct. 27 presidential ballot, and Fernandez's victory caught financial markets largely off guard, deepening the country's economic tailspin.  Instead of using the upset to fight even harder for his reelection, Macri will spend the next few weeks trying to prevent the country's financial situation from deteriorating further. But in doing so, the Argentine president faces a steep uphill battle. This means that the influx of uncertainty now shrouding country's future will likely only get murkier in the lead-up to the October vote -- and probably long after that, should a protectionist government wind up back in Buenos Aires before the year's end. ...