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Kirchnerism (Spanish: kirchnerismo) is an Argentinian political group formed by the supporters of the late Néstor Kirchner, president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, and of his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, president from 2007 until 2015. Although the Kirchners are members of the Justicialist Party (the original, official and largest Peronist party, founded by Juan Perón in 1947), Peronism itself is a broad movement, and many Peronists oppose them ("Anti-Kirchnerist Peronism").
Contents
Kircherism is generally considered to fall into the category of left-wing populism.
Kirchnerism, although originally a faction in the Justicialist Party, later received support from other smaller Argentine political parties (like the Communist Party or the Humanist Party), and from factions of some traditional parties (like the Radical Civic Union and the Socialist Party). In parties which are divided along Kirchnerist/Anti-Kirchnerist lines, the members of the Kirchnerist faction are often distinguished with the letter K (for instance "peronistas/justicialistas K", "radicales K" or "socialistas K"), while the factions opposing Kirchnerism are similarly labeled with the expression Anti-K.
In response to the rise of Kirchnerism, the term "Anti-Kirchnerism" has arisen to describe those sectors and persons, as much within as without Peronism, who opposed the governments of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández.
Characteristics
Both Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner come from the left wing of Peronism, and both began their political careers as members of the Peronist Youth (Juventud Peronista). Many of the Kirchners' closest allies belong to the Peronist left. Antikirchnerists often criticize this ideological background with the term setentista ("seventies-ist"), suggesting that Kirchnerism is overly influenced by the populist struggle of the 1970s.
Transversalism
Unlike his predecessor Eduardo Duhalde, Néstor Kirchner was a Peronist but distrusted the Justicialist Party as a support for his government. He proposed instead a "Transversalist" policy, seeking the support of progressive politicians regardless of their party. Thus, he got support from factions of the PJ, the Radical Civic Union (which were called "Radicales K") and small centre-left parties.
Kirchner neglected the internal politics of the PJ, and kept instead the Front for Victory party, which was initially an electoral alliance in his home province of Santa Cruz, and in the 2003 elections premiered in the federal political scene. Some politicians favored by this policy were Aníbal Ibarra, mayor of Buenos Aires for the Broad Front and supported as Kirchnerist, and Julio Cobos, governor of Mendoza for the UCR and elected as vicepresident of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in 2007.
The Transversalist project was eventually dismissed. Kirchner took control of the PJ, and some "Radicales K" slowly returned to the "Anti-K" faction of their party, most notably vice-president Julio Cobos and Governor of Catamarca province Eduardo Brizuela del Moral; while other very prominent Radical politicians remained in the "K" wing of the Radical Civic Union, such as provincial governors Gerardo Zamora of Santiago del Estero, Ricardo Colombi of Corrientes and Miguel Saiz of Río Negro.
Criticism
Kirchnerism has encountered opposition from various sectors of Argentine society, which tend to criticize its personalism.
In 2012 there was a massive anti-Kirchnerism protest in several cities within Argentina and also in several Argentinian embassies around the world. It became known as 8N.
In 2015 when Foreign Policy was discussing corruption in Latin America, it was stated that:
"The viceroys of the colonial era set the pattern. They centralised power and bought the loyalty of local interest groups. [...] Caudillos, dictators and elected presidents continued the tradition of personalising power. Venezuela’s chavismo and the kirchnerismo of Ms Fernández are among today’s manifestations."
In an editorial published in October 2015, The Economist expressed the following view about the situation in Argentina:
"Argentina needs change. As Ms Fernández slips out of office the economy is starting to crumble. Currency controls and trade restrictions [...] are choking productivity; inflation hovers at around 25%. [...] Argentina cannot seek external financing until it ends its standoff with creditors who rejected a debt-restructuring plan. Unless the new president quickly reverses Ms Fernández’s populist policies, a crisis is inevitable."