Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner was born on February 19, 1953, in La-plata, province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the 55th president of Argentina (from December 10, 2007 ). She took the post after her husband Nestor Kirchner.She is the second woman that took presidency in Argentina after Isabel Peron that was elected by votes.

During the general election Cristina participated as the nominee of the governing party Front for Victory. She received 45 % of votes what was 20 % more compared with the nearest competitor.

Her parents were Eduardo Fernández, Spaniard, and Ofelia Esther Wilhelm, German. She studied law at the National University of La Plata during the 1970s and became active in the Peronist Youth. During her studies there, she met her future spouse, Néstor. They were married on March 9, 1975, and had two children: Máximo and Florencia.

Cristina began her political career in Justicialist Party in 1970s. During the Process of national reorganization she and Nestor were not connected with politics and led law practice in Río Gallegos. She continued her political career in 1980s and was elected from the province Santa-Cruz in 1989.

In 1995, Fernández was elected to represent Santa Cruz in the Senate. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, and in 2001, returned to the Senate. Fernández provided the main backbone to her husband's successful campaign for the presidency in 2003, against two other Justicialist candidates and several other competitors. In the April 27, 2003, presidential election first round, former president Carlos Saúl Menem won the greatest number of votes (25%), but failed to get the votes necessary to win an overall majority. A second-round run-off vote between Menem and runner-up Néstor Kirchner was scheduled for May 18. Feeling certain that he was about to face a resounding electoral defeat, Menem decided to withdraw his candidacy, thus automatically making Kirchner the new president, with 22% of the votes (the lowest number in the history of the country).

Cristina was the leader during the election, her future post was foreseen. She needed 45 % of votes to succeed So she received 45,3 % of votes, her competitor Elisa Carrió received (nominee from the Civil movement) 22 % and former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna received16 %. Other eleven nominees received 15 % altogether. She was popular with the working class as well as urban middle class. She lost votes in the three largest cities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario), though received the majority of votes in most other regions, including large provincial centers such as Mendoza and Tucumán.

The president elect began a four-year term on December 10, 2007, facing challenges including inflation, union demands for higher salaries, private investment in key areas, lack of institutional credibility (exemplified by the controversy surrounding the national statistics bureau, INDEC), utility companies demanding authorization to raise their fees, low availability of cheap credit to the private sector, and the upcoming negotiation of the defaulted foreign debt with the Paris Club.