It was a celebration full of typical Latin American enthusiasm: conservative opposition candidate Mauricio Macri has been confirmed as the winner of Argentina’s presidential election
With almost all votes counted Macri has taken 52 percent. His victory is the first in more than a decade for Argentina’s centre-right.
“Today is an historic day. It’s a change of era. And that’s why this change can’t be based on revenge or a settling of scores,” declared Macri possibly reflecting on a campaign which had been marked by strong mutual attacks. A month ago it looked as if Daniel Scioli was set to win, keeping the party of outgoing president Christina Fernandez de Kirchner in power. However, in the weeks between the first poll and Sunday’s run-off, Macri surged ahead with his business friendly policies.
His win stands as an indictment of De Kirchner’s stewardship of Latin America’s No.3 economy which has been plagued with double-digit inflation, a widening of the fiscal deficit, and her confrontational style.
