Something had to change in Argentina and 1995 saw the inauguration of a new political party called FrePaSo (Frente por un País Solidario) which took power in 1999, headed by Fernando de la Rúa. His attempts to rectify Argentina's economic situation failed and very quickly he found himself governing a country in severe economic crisis. With enormous debts owed to other countries, the Argentine peso lost its worth and those people without US dollar bank accounts found their savings completely devalued. Riots and unrest forced De la Rúa to resign at the end of 2001 and his predecessor lasted only one week before following suit.
Argentina's modern history and politics meant things began to look a bit brighter for Argentina. Eventually, De la Rúa's original competitor, Peronist Eduardo Duhalde took on the immense job of restructuring and repairing Argentina's battered economy in 2002. During his one year in office he created jobs and strengthened Argentina's position in Latin America and the world before power was handed to Nestor Kirchner in 2003.
The four years that Kirchner was in power saw Argentina become a far more stable country as his populist politics and Peronist beliefs focussed on the positition of the people. Despite his popularity, Kirchner decided to stand down and his wife, Cristina stood for presidency.
October 2007 saw Cristina Kirchner win the elections and become the first female president to be elected by the people in Argentina. The general feeling is one of happiness, as Mrs Kirchner was already a known political figure who had been involved throughout her husband's term. She is expected to maintain his leftwing populist economic policies and is even being dubbed 'The New Evita'. Only time will tell if this is the case...
