NEW YORK -- The election of Nestor Kirchner as Argentina's new president offers hope for a national economic and social recovery following decades of government mismanagement. Kirchner will need to back his intentions with prompt implementation of effective policies to convince Argentines that he will indeed overcome the effect of years of public policies that triggered one of the worst crises in the nation's recent history.
By withdrawing from the final runoff race, former President Carlos Menem ensured that Kirchner would become Argentina's new president. Kirchner inherits a country in shambles, with a huge foreign debt ($155 billion) equivalent to 126 percent of gross domestic product, according to preliminary estimates for 2002. The debt is projected at 110 percent of GDP for 2003. This puts great pressure on the export sector and challenges the availability of resources for domestic consumption and financing of social programs.
The economic and social situation in the country is characterized by widespread poverty, massive unemployment and a general climate of insecurity in the country's main cities. More than 65 percent of Argentines now live below the poverty line, and general unemployment is above 24 percent -- this in a country that in the first half of the last century was among the 10 most prosperous nations in the world.