In Argentina's icy south, a political dynasty fades and a new power rises
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentinas-icy-south-political-dynasty-fades-new-power-rises-2023-10-21/
In Argentina's icy south, a political dynasty fades and a new power rises
By Lucinda Elliott
October 21, 2023 10:20 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago
RIO GALLEGOS, Argentina, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Alicia Kirchner, an elder of Argentina's most powerful political dynasty, recalls with fondness helping build homes, schools and the first hospital in Rio Gallegos, a small city in the country's windswept Patagonian south.
The Kirchner family, which includes two of the last four presidents in Argentina, have ruled with dominance for decades here in the icy southern province of Santa Cruz, a region they call home, where they own land, investments and hotels.
That dynasty - the leftist core of the powerful Peronist movement - is now waning, a tectonic shift in the country's political power dynamics, with a new force that has burst onto the scene in the form of far-right outsider Javier Milei.
Milei, who wants to "chainsaw" the political status quo, is the favorite to win a first round general election on Sunday after he scored a shock victory in an open primary vote in August, including taking the biggest vote share in Santa Cruz.
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