It's been a rough few weeks for Argentine President Cristina Fernández; I've discussed her misfortunes - and their impact on her husband's hopes of returning to office - in my latest column for Comment is free:
The problems started when Fernández decreed an increase in export levies on agricultural produce. That prompted mass protests from outraged farmers and gave Argentina's formerly directionless opposition a cause to rally around. It also angered both the urban middle classes and the Kirchners' supporters in Congress, who took umbrage at the president's failure to even go through the motions of consulting lawmakers on the new taxes. Most troubling of all, Fernández found herself under fire from her own vice-president, Julio Cobos, who slipped easily into the role of Lex Luthor to the Kirchners' Superman. Appointed by Fernández to negotiate with the farm lobby, Cobos instead began to publicly question his boss's judgment, culminating in an open letter asking her to submit her proposals to Congress for ratification.Ultimately, Fernández found herself unable to resist her underling's arm-twisting, and she asked lawmakers to support her tax plan. That ought to have been a formality, given the Peronists' dominance in Congress. Even there, though, Fernández's superpowers failed her. Despite her best efforts, the tax bill became utterly deadlocked in the Senate, despite the Peronists' two-thirds majority. Finally, after 17 hours of debate failed to break the stalemate, vice-president Cobos cast a dramatic tie-breaking vote against his own boss, shooting down the tax reform once and for all.
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