Being the new Evita isn't easy

By Roberto Guareschi

Thursday, Nov 03, 2005, Page 9

If myths could come true through sheer willpower, Cristina Kirchner, the wife of Argentine President N?stor Kirchner, would already be a 21st-century Evita Per?n. But myths are a collective and mysterious construction. Otherwise, they would be for sale.

In Argentina's recent legislative election, Cristina Kirchner became a political force in her own right, making the Kirch-ners a ruling couple from now on -- the second in the country's history after former president Juan Per?n and Evita. Mrs. Kirchner was elected senator for the province of Buenos Aires, where much of the country's economic might is based. It is also where most of Argentina's poor live.

True, the Kirchner name helped, and perhaps tradition also played a part. After all, Isabelita -- a very small woman in every sense and Per?n's third wife after Evita -- became the country's first female president only because she was Per?n's widow.

Cristina Kirchner, however, is no small woman. As a lawyer and legislator since 1989, she enjoys a privileged role in developing the strategies of her husband's government. Unlike any first lady in Argentine history, she is capable and well prepared when discussing complex issues such as money laundering or labor law.

Yet myth-making was not absent on the night of her victory. Newspapers depicted her against the background of the Argentinean flag, with her head bathed in a halo of sunshine. The image seemed to evoke the Virgin of Luj?n, the religious figure who attracts the most worshipers in Argentina, as well as that of the Evita who was sanctified by the poor while still alive. It also seemed like an illustration of her authorized biography, entitled Reina Cristina (Queen Cristina).

Argentina is a country of strong women -- more than one has become a myth that transcends cultures. The most recent is a women's collective, the Madres y Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo). These brave women constituted the only opposition that dared to confront the savage military junta in the late 1970's, demanding to know the fate of their "disappeared" children.

The other myth is, of course, Evita. But Cristina is no Evita. In the Argentina of the 1940s and 1950s, Evita gathered multitudes. In Cristina's victory, and that of her husband, there were no mass celebrations.

Perhaps this is just politics in the era of modern media. In her speeches, Cristina modulates her voice as Evita did. But, where Evita's voice was full of the "pathos" of poverty and injustice, of passion and tenderness, Cristina evokes more anger and defiance. No compassion is heard. Instead, there is defiance and self-affirmation: "They will not do that to me..."

Evita was the wife who would intercede before her husband to defend her "children," the crowds of descamisados, or shirtless people. Her powerful myth made her a sort of primal woman. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo became the same: They would put their motherhood above their lives. Defenseless against the state's power, they were invincible because they had nothing else to lose.

Cristina is partly a "wife" like Evita, but she doesn't portray herself as a mother figure. She is a woman with her own ideas, who will fight for them in the political project that she shares with her husband. It is a very modern model, perhaps in transition to something else.

But to what? Perhaps the key difference between Evita and Cristina is the fact that Evita, the "standard-bearer of the poor," was an actress hunting for her destiny when she met Per?n. Cristina dreamed and built her project together with her husband from the start, acquiring more visibility every day.

That makes her akin to former US first lady Senator Hillary Clinton. Like the Clintons, the Kirchners knew from early on in their marriage that they wanted to reach the top, and the best way to do it, they concluded, was together. They are political partners.

Cristina loves being compared to Hillary. Former US president Bill Clinton's wife could run for president in 2008, and Cristina could do the same in 2007, if her husband doesn't pursue re-election, or in 2011, if he does, according to government officials. If Nestor and Cristina alternate as heads of state, they could do so indefinitely, because Argentina's Constitution allows for only one consecutive re-election but no limit on the total number of electoral terms.

Marriage and political partnership can, in any case, keep the tandem intact. Few doubt that Bill Clinton will be a powerful force in the US if his wife becomes president. Kirchner, too, is not going to retire and put his slippers on in 2007 or 2011 if Cristina heads the government.

This new "monarchical" presidential model deserves study by political scientists and jurists. But, as the Kirchners dream their mythic dreams, they will also be confronted with reality. And reality is even harder to shape than a myth.

Roberto Guareschi was for 13 years the executive editor of the newspaper Clar?n in Buenos Aires. He is currently a writer and university lecturer. Copyright: Project Syndicate