Argentines of Chilean Descent - Nstor Kirchner, Cecilia Roth (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Nstor Carlos Kirchner (Spanish pronunciation: born February 25, 1950) was the President of Argentina from May 25, 2003 until December 10, 2007. A Justicialist, Kirchner was previously Governor of the Province of Santa Cruz. Currently, Kirchner is a National Deputy, elected for Buenos Aires Province in 2009. Nstor Kirchner was designated Secretary-general of UNASUR on 4 May, 2010. Kirchner was little-known internationally and even domestically before his election, which he won by default with only 22.24 percent of the vote in the first round when former President Carlos Menem (24.45%) withdrew from the race. Soon after taking office in May 2003, Kirchner surprised the world by standing down powerful military and police officials. Stressing the need to increase accountability and transparency in government, Kirchner overturned amnesty laws for military officers accused of torture and assassinations during the 19761983 "dirty war" under military rule. On October 28, 2007 his wife Cristina Fernndez was elected to replace him as President of Argentina. He is currently the First Gentleman of Argentina. Kirchner was born in Ro Gallegos, in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. His father, a post office official, was of Swiss descent; his mother, Mara Juana Ostoic Dragnic, a Chilean of Croatian descent from Punta Arenas. He received his primary and secondary education at local public schools, and his high-school diploma from the Argentine school Colegio Nacional Repblica de Guatemala. Kirchner affirms that early on he participated in the Movimiento Justicialista, first as a member of the Young Peronists, whose left-wing radicalism was strongly opposed to the military dictatorships. In the mid-1970s, Kirchner studied law at National University ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=230189