To the Polls!

I kind of kicked myself in the butt today when I realized that I haven't yet written one word regarding politics, despite the fact that it's an election year here in Argentina (well, I haven't written about politics officially anyways. I'm a believer that everything is political in one way or another...). General elections will be held in late October so there will be plenty of political news and debates to share between now and then.

A few important things to note about Argentina's government and electoral system: First, the government is modeled after the United States' government structure (yes, an intentional imitation) with a president and vice president and a two-house National Congress, composed of the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation (257 officials serve four-year terms) and the Senate of the Nation (72 officials serve six-year terms).
Voting is compulsory for Argentines between 18 and 70 years of age. I've heard a few comments from Argentines as far as this regulation is concerned, most interesting of which has been descriptions of how its enforcement occurs in rural areas of the country.  In many of these smaller towns, especially those with significant indigenous populations, politicians or the election board officials will show up with food bribes in exchange for the people's votes. Each voting system clearly has its flaws.

It's illegal for foreigners to contribute financially to political campaigns. Darn! I was definitely hoping I could do that while I was here... Oh well, I guess I join plenty of others prohibited from contributing financially to campaigns, including: those who would like to donate anonymously; Argentines who don't reside in country; those who run gambling establishments; those who might be obligated to do so on behalf of their bosses; trade unions, whether management or professional; service businesses or national public works agencies at the provincial or municipal level; and centralized or decentralized entities organized at levels classified as: national, provincial, inter-provincial, bi- or multinational, municipal, or the autonomous city of Buenos Aires.  Loosely translated from this government website, I include all these provisions to show that regulations seem to be necessary in a wide variety of contexts here to reign in the spectacle that can take place when elections take center stage of a country's politics.

Argentina's current president is Cristina Kirchner. Yes, amidst the machísmo culture that exists here (sometimes glaringly so) there is a woman in the Pink House (no gender puns here. Argentina's building that houses the president's work space is actually called la Casa Rosada, the Pink House). She began her term as president in 2007 and has not offered a definitive answer about whether she will seek re-election this fall. I think this is a great living example of the fluidity found in Argentine culture and people's general approach to life.

As Argentina's politics take on the race to the electoral finish line in October I'll include more observations, hopefully insightful, on how politics, narrowly understood, interacts with the larger culture and other international entities. My blog will experience a short hiatus following this post as we approach the Easter holiday weekend and I board another of Argentina's lovely coach travel buses. :) Most of the country closes for Thursday through Sunday and I'm taking full advantage of my time off this weekend.  On the docket: old mission settlements of Posadas and Iguazu Falls! Hopefully I will have plenty of my own pictures, even better than those from this linked website, to post on Monday when I return!