First ladies fight it out for Evita's legacy to secure a seat in senate

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By Andrew Gumbel
Published: 22 October 2005


Two women are at each other's throats for the political future of Argentina. Each claims to be the true descendant of Eva Peron, the fabled heroine of the people who still exercises a powerful hold on voters' imaginations, 53 years after her death. Each, intriguingly, has had a spell as Argentina's first lady, at the side of men in the populist tradition of Juan Peron.

But that is about all Cristina Fernandez Kirchner and Hilda Gonzalez Duhalde would admit having in common. On Sunday, voters will decide which should be senator from the province around Buenos Aires. So voters will take sides in a feud that is splintering the Peronista movement and may determine the direction of Argentina for years.

Ms Fernandez, the glamorous wife of the President, Nestor Kirchner, characterises her opponent as the public face of crooks. The plainer Ms Gonzalez, wife of the previous president, Eduardo Duhalde, calls the Kirchners "traitors" to the Peronista cause.

In a country poised awkwardly between old-fashioned machismo and an unprecedentedly strong showing of women in politics, much of the media coverage has focused on Ms Fernandez's designer wardrobe, jewellery and make-up, the insinuation being that anyone so carefully groomed could not possibly be a true tribune of the people in the Peronist tradition.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article321368.ece