Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Repsol YPF, S.A.
logo
type	Sociedad Anónima
traded as
predecessor	Instituto Nacional de Hidrocarburos
foundation	1986
location city	Madrid
location country	Spain
area served	Worldwide
key people	Antonio Brufau Niubó (Chairman and CEO)
industry	Petroleum industry
products	Oil and gas exploration and production, natural gas and LNG trading and transportation, oil refining, petrochemistry
services	Fuel stations
revenue	€60.43 billion (2010)
operating income	€7.621 billion (2010)
net income	€4.693 billion (2010)
assets	€67.63 billion (end 2010)
equity	€25.99 billion (end 2010)
num employees	43,300 (end 2010)
homepage	www.repsol.com
intl	yes }}

Repsol YPF, S.A. (originally an initialism for ''Refineria de Petróleos de Escombreras Oil - Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Sociedad Anónima'') is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain and Argentina, as a result of the 1999 takeover of Argentine energy firm YPF by the Spanish conglomerate Repsol S.A.. It is now the 15th largest petroleum refining company according to the Fortune Global 500 list, employing over 40,000 people worldwide.

In May 2006 Repsol announced it was planning to float between 15% and 20% of YPF's shares on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange.

Repsol also partners with Honda Racing Corporation to compete in MotoGP under Repsol Honda Team.

History

1948: REPESA incorporation (oil refineries located in Escombreras) created for the installation of a refinery in the Valley of Escombreras (Cartagena)

1981: Creation of INH: Public organization created to integrate the various companies operating in the oil and gas sectors in which the Spanish state had a controlling interest or was the sole owner.

1986: Creation of the Repsol group: Its sole shareholder is the INH. Repsol brings together the companies in which the Spanish government had a majority ownership in the areas of Exploration and Production (formerly Hispanoil) and Production, Refining (formerly ENPETROL), Chemical and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Butane (former Butano SA) , CAMPSA and Petronor. Repsol Quimica (Alcudia).

1989: The State (INH) began the privatization of Repsol. IPO of 26% of Repsol capital. Shares of Repsol, SA became listed on stock exchanges in Spain and in New York.

1991: The company of Gas Natural was formed.

1997: The State completes the process of privatization of Repsol. IPO of 10% of Repsol capital.

1998: Repsol considers the privatization of YPF.

1999: Acquisition of YPF by Repsol.

2007: Purchase of 14.9% by the Petersen Group, a company of Argentina controlled by Enrique Eskenazi .

In November 2008 LUKoil was interested in acquiring approximately 30% of the shares of Repsol (20% owned by Sacyr and 10% of Caja Madrid).

2009: The company enters into agreement with Cuba to extract and drill on their territory.

2010: Repsol signed an agreement for investments estimated in U$10 billion in Iran.

References

External links

Category:Companies based in the Community of Madrid Category:Natural gas companies of Spain Category:Oil companies of Spain Category:Spanish brands

ca:Repsol YPF de:Repsol YPF es:Repsol YPF eu:Repsol YPF fr:Repsol YPF gl:Repsol YPF id:Repsol YPF it:Repsol YPF hu:Repsol YPF nl:Repsol YPF ja:レプソル YPF no:Repsol YPF pl:Repsol YPF pt:Repsol YPF ro:Repsol YPF ru:Repsol YPF sco:Repsol YPF fi:Repsol YPF sv:Repsol uk:Repsol YPF

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Casey Stoner
nationality	n
birth date	October 16, 1985
birth place	Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia
current team	Repsol Honda Team
bike number	27
website	caseystoner.com.au
motogp active years	–present
motogp manufacturers	Honda, Ducati
motogp championships	1 ()
motogp race starts	95
motogp race wins	30
motogp podiums	54
motogp poles	29
motogp fastest laps	25
motogp total points	1454
motogp last season	2010
motogp last position	4th (225 pts)
250 active years	,
250 manufacturers	Aprilia
250 championships	0
250 race starts	31
250 race wins	5
250 podiums	10
250 poles	2
250 fastest laps	1
250 total points	322
250 last season	2005
250 last position	2nd (254 pts)
125 active years	, –
125 manufacturers	Honda, Aprilia, KTM
125 championships	0
125 race starts	30
125 race wins	2
125 podiums	10
125 poles	2
125 fastest laps	3
125 total points	274
125 last season	2004
125 last position	5th (145 pts) }}

Casey Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is a professional motorcycle racer. Born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia and raised in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career. After first competing internationally in 2002, he won the title of 2007 MotoGP World Champion when he succeeded American Nicky Hayden. He currently competes in the MotoGP class for the Repsol Honda Team, having also competed for Team LCR and Ducati Corse with which he became world champion since his MotoGP début in .

In 2008, Stoner was named Young Australian of the Year.

Career

Early years

He competed in his first race was when he was four years old, in an under-nine years old race at the Mike Hatcher's dirt racing track on the Gold Coast of Australia. Between his very first race win at the age of nine and the age of fourteen, Stoner won 41 dirt and long track titles and 70 state titles.

One feat he achieved that illustrates his passion and "need" for racing was at age twelve. Over one weekend he raced in 5 different categories in all 7 rounds of each capacity. A weekend consisting of 35 different races... Not only did he compete in all these categories and different engine capacities, the young Casey Stoner went on to win 32 out of the 35 races. There were five Australian titles to be won that weekend, Stoner won all 5.

The legal age to enter into road races in Australia is 16. At the age of 14 years, Stoner and his parents agreed he was ready to move up onto road racing so they packed up and moved to England – where the legal age for road racing is 14.

From 2000 to 2002, he contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving fulltime to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.

125cc

In 2003 Stoner moved to the 125cc GP category. Here, working again with Cecchinello and Aprilia, he met with considerable success, scoring his first GP race win and three second places, finishing 8th overall at the season's end.

In 2004 Stoner joined the Red Bull KTM factory team in 125cc class and continued to improve, with another race win, two second places, three thirds, and a final championship position of fifth.

250cc

In 2005 he rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello' team on an Aprilia. Onboard a factory Aprilia, Stoner emerged toward the season's end as a serious threat to championship leader Dani Pedrosa; a threat that only dissipated with a crash at Stoner's home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.

MotoGP

2006

Stoner was in advanced negotiations with Yamaha, but after they dropped him he settled on an alliance once more with team manager Lucio Cecchinello on a Honda RC211V, on a one-bike team new to the series for the 2006 Season, Team LCR. He took pole in just his second race MotoGP, but crashed several times during the season. He finished in 8th position with his best result being a 2nd place at the Turkish GP, where he was leading until overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.

2007

Stoner secured a ride with the factory Ducati team for the 2007 season, joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. 6 poles and 10 race wins (including three of the first four), took him to his first GP title, by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa, which he built during the second half of the season. His worst finish was a 6th place at Motegi, which was all he needed to clinch the title that day.

2008

Stoner opened the 2008 season with a victory at Qatar, before a run of two races without a podium. He returned to the podium with a second place at Mugello, before starting a run of seven successive pole positions. He turned three of them into successive victories – a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from a huge Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed, moving to within 20 points of the championship lead. However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Valentino Rossi), Brno and Misano ensured that he could not defend the title successfully. Stoner finished the 2008 season as runner-up to Rossi with 280 points, the highest amount of points ever gained without taking the title.

2009

Stoner remained with Ducati for the 2009 season with new team mate Nicky Hayden, with a further option for a 4th season in 2010. A strong start to the season left Stoner in a three way battle with the Fiat Yamaha duo of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, before he was struck by a mystery illness which caused him to feel tired long before the end of races, leaving him 16 points behind Rossi and 7 behind Lorenzo after the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on 5 July.

Stoner was subsequently diagnosed with anemia and an inflammation of the stomach lining. Stoner later disputed the diagnosis however and, after continuing to struggle with the condition, he announced on 10 August 2009 that he would miss rounds 11, 12 and 13 in Brno, Indianapolis and Misano respectively in an attempt to recover from the illness. Mika Kallio was chosen as Stoner's replacement for the three races. Stoner returned to racing late in the 2009 season, placing second in the Portuguese Grand Prix and an emphatic first in the Australian Grand Prix, which he led throughout. At interview following the Australian Grand Prix, Stoner said that he experienced none of the premature tiredness that had dogged him earlier in the 2009 season. He followed this up with another first place in the wet at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

At the last round of 2009 at Valencia, Stoner dominated all practise and qualifying sessions to take pole, only to crash on cold tyres on the warm-up lap and miss the race.

2010

At the test held immediately following the Valencia round, Stoner was once again fastest while testing the new 2010 version of the Desmosedici. However, Rossi was fastest in five of the six pre-season tests.

Stoner qualified on pole for the season opener in Qatar, and was leading the race when he crashed out, later acknowledging that this was his own mistake. He also crashed out of round 3 at Le Mans, this time attributing the crash to the front of the bike unloading when not running at maximum pace. His first podium of the year came at Assen, despite struggling with arm pump late in the race.

For 2011 Stoner has joined Honda Racing Corporation after four years at Ducati Corse, where he has been replaced by Valentino Rossi.

2011

Stoner is racing with the Repsol Honda Racing Team in , with team mates Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. In preseason testing in Malaysia, Stoner was quickest in all three sessions, closely followed by Pedrosa and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo. Stoner won the season-opening race in Qatar from pole position, and had been quickest in each of the free practice sessions held before qualifying. Stoner won three out of the first five rounds of the season, with victories in Le Mans and Catalunya to add to his Qatar victory. Stoner added victories at Silverstone in damp conditions, and Laguna Seca, to hold a 20-point lead over Jorge Lorenzo with eight races to go in the season.

Stoner proposed boycotting the Japanese Grand Prix out of fears for his health from radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant even though all the independent scientific experts including the World Health Organization and Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency stated that it is safe to live permanently or more from the plant, and despite the fact that he rides for a Japanese manufacturer. Motegi is more than from the plant.

Status and personality

Stoner has showed signs of feeling underappreciated by the general public. He was angered by consistent suggestions that the bike and tyres had a bigger role in his success than he did, and unhappy at being booed at Donington in both 2007 and 2008.

In August 2008 he was criticised for his team's association with tobacco company Philip Morris.

Stoner has stated that he would prefer to shun the limelight and would prefer to let his riding style do the talking. In a recent interview with Australian Motorcycle News, he was quoted as saying that he would prefer a return to purer form of racing from the 500cc days, stating that "Back in those days, it was just racing – Doohan, Rainey, Schwantz, Gardner, Lawson – not half as much bullshit as now. That was the life." compared to the racing that he participates in.

Personal life

Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna from Adelaide when she approached him at Phillip Island in 2003 and asked him to sign her stomach. A relationship began in 2005 when she turned 16, and they were married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007.

Following his experience of tiredness and sickness during 2009, Stoner was ultimately diagnosed as lactose intolerant.

At the Czech Republic Grand Prix in August 2011, Stoner announced that his wife was pregnant with their first child.

Career statistics

By season

{|class="wikitable" !Season !Class !Bike !Team !Race !Win !Pod !Pole !FLap !Pts !Plcd !WCh |- align="right" ! 2001 | 125cc | Honda RS125R | | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29th | – |- align="right" ! 2002 | 250cc | Aprilia RS250 | Team LCR | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 12th | – |- align="right" ! 2003 | 125cc | Aprilia RS125 | Team LCR | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 125 | 8th | – |- align="right" ! 2004 | 125cc | KTM 125 FPR | Red Bull KTM | 14 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 145 | 5th | – |- align="right" ! 2005 | 250cc | Aprilia RSA 250 | Team LCR | 16 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 254 |bgcolor="#DFDFDF"| 2nd | – |- align="right" ! 2006 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Team LCR | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 8th | – |- align="right" ! 2007 | MotoGP | Ducati GP7 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 367 |bgcolor="#FFFFBF"| 1st | 1 |- align="right" ! 2008 | MotoGP | Ducati GP8 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 280 |bgcolor="#DFDFDF"| 2nd | – |- align="right" ! 2009 | MotoGP | Ducati GP9 | Ducati Corse | 13 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 220 | 4th | – |- align="right" ! 2010 | MotoGP | Ducati GP10 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 225 | 4th | – |- align="right" ! 2011 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Repsol Honda | 12 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 243* |bgcolor="#FFFFBF"| 1st* | – |- align="right" ! Total | | | | 156 | 37 | 74 | 33 | 29 | 2050 | | 1 |}

* Season in progress.

By class

{|class="wikitable" !Class !Season !First Races !First Podium !First Win !Race !Wins !Podiums !Poles !FLaps !Pts !WChmps |- align="right" ! 125 cc | 2001, 2003–2004 | align="left" | 2001 Britain | align="left" | 2003 Germany | align="left" | 2003 Valencia | 30 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 274 | 0 |- align="right" ! 250 cc | 2002, 2005 | align="left" | 2002 Japan | align="left" | 2005 Portugal | align="left" | 2005 Portugal | 31 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 322 | 0 |- align="right" ! MotoGP | 2006 – present | align="left" | 2006 Spain | align="left" | 2006 Turkey | align="left" | 2007 Qatar | 95 | 30 | 54 | 29 | 25 | 1454 | 1 |- align="right" ! Total ! 2001 – present | | | | 156 | 37 | 74 | 33 | 29 | 2050 | 1 |}

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

! Year

! Class

! Bike

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! Pos

! Pts

!align="left"

125cc

Honda

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! 29th

! 4

!align="left"

250 cc

Aprilia

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! 12th

! 68

!align="left"

125 cc

Aprilia

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! 8th

! 125

!align="left"

125 cc

KTM

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 5th

! 145

!align="left"

250 cc

Aprilia

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

!align="left"

MotoGP

Honda

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 8th

! 119

!align="left"

MotoGP

Ducati

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

!align="left"

MotoGP

Ducati

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

!align="left"

MotoGP

Ducati

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFFF"

! 4th

! 220

!align="left"

MotoGP

Ducati

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! 4th

! 225

!align="left"

MotoGP

Honda

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#efcfff"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

* Season in progress.

References

External links

Official website of Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner – MotoGP Rider Bios at Motorcycle-USA

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:People from New South Wales Category:Australian motorcycle racers Category:250cc World Championship riders Category:MotoGP riders Category:Young Australian of the Year Award winners Category:Australian expatriates in Monaco Category:Australian expatriates in Switzerland

map-bms:Casey Stoner ca:Casey Stoner cs:Casey Stoner de:Casey Stoner es:Casey Stoner eu:Casey Stoner fr:Casey Stoner id:Casey Stoner it:Casey Stoner he:קייסי סטונר jv:Casey Stoner lv:Keisijs Stouners hu:Casey Stoner mk:Кејси Стонер nl:Casey Stoner ja:ケーシー・ストーナー no:Casey Stoner pl:Casey Stoner pt:Casey Stoner ru:Стоунер, Кейси sl:Casey Stoner su:Casey Stoner fi:Casey Stoner sv:Casey Stoner tr:Casey Stoner

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
honorific-prefix	Her Excellency
name	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
order	55th President of Argentina
term start	10 December 2007
predecessor	Néstor Kirchner
vicepresident	Julio Cobos
order2	First Lady of Argentina
term start2	25 May 2003
term end2	10 December 2007
preceded2	Hilda Duhalde
succeeded2	Néstor Kirchner (First Spouse of Argentina)
order3	Senator of Argentina For Buenos Aires Province
order4	Senator of Argentina For Santa Cruz
term3	10 December 2005 – 28 November 2007
term4	10 December 2001 – 9 December 200510 December 1995 – 3 December 1997
order6	Deputy of Argentina For Santa Cruz
term start6	10 December 1997
term end6	9 December 2001
birth date	February 19, 1953
birth place	La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
spouse	Néstor Kirchner (1975–2010 (his death))
party	Front for Victory (FPV)Justicialist Party (PJ)
children	Máximo KirchnerFlorencia Kirchner
profession	Lawyer
alma mater	National University of La Plata
religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature	CF SIGNATURE.svg
Website	The Casa Rosada }}

Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner (or simply Cristina), is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female President, and the second female President ever to serve (after Isabel Martínez de Perón, 1974–1976). A Justicialist, Fernández served one term as National Deputy and three terms as National Senator for both Santa Cruz and Buenos Aires Provinces.

A native of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Fernández is a graduate of the National University of La Plata. She met her husband during her studies, and they moved to Santa Cruz to work as lawyers. In May 1991, she was elected to the provincial legislature. Between 1995 and 2007, she was repeatedly elected to the Argentine National Congress, both as a National Deputy and National Senator. During Kirchner's presidency (2003–2007) she acted as First Lady. Fernández was chosen as the Front for Victory presidential candidate in 2007. In the October 2007 general election she obtained 45.3% of the vote and a 22% lead over her nearest rival, avoiding the need for a runoff. She was inaugurated on December 10, 2007. As a First Lady, and later President, she has become a fashion icon for women, a notable advocate for human rights, poverty awareness and health improvement.

Personal life

Fernández was born in Ringuelet, a suburb west of La Plata, Province of Buenos Aires, daughter of Eduardo Fernández and Ofelia Esther Wilhelm. She studied law at the National University of La Plata during the 1970s and became active in the Peronist Youth. During her studies there, she met her future spouse, Néstor Kirchner. They were married on March 9, 1975, and had two children: Máximo and Florencia. Néstor died on October 27, 2010 after suffering a heart attack.

Political career

Fernández started her political career in the Peronist Youth movement of the Justicialist Party in the 1970s. During the period of authoritarian rule in the country, she and Néstor dropped out of politics and practiced law in Río Gallegos. She picked up politics again in the late 1980s, and was elected to the Santa Cruz Provincial Legislature in 1989, a position to which she was re-elected in 1993.

In 1995, Fernández was elected to represent Santa Cruz in the Senate. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997, and in 2001, returned to the Senate. Fernández helped with her husband's successful campaign for the presidency in 2003, but without making joint public appearances. In the April 27, 2003, presidential election first round, former president Carlos Saúl Menem won the greatest number of votes (25%), but failed to get the votes necessary to win an overall majority. A second-round run-off vote between Menem and runner-up Néstor Kirchner was scheduled for May 18. Feeling certain that he was about to face a sound electoral defeat, Menem decided to withdraw his candidacy, thus automatically making Kirchner the new president, with 22% of the votes. This was the lowest number in the history of the country.

During her husband's term, Fernández became the First Lady of the country. In that role, she worked as an itinerant ambassador for his government. Her highly combative speech style polarized Argentine politics, recalling the style of Eva Perón. Although she repeatedly rejected the comparison later, Cristina Fernández once said in an interview that she identified herself "with the Evita of the hair in a bun and the clenched fist before a microphone" (the typical image of Eva Perón during public speeches) more than with the "miraculous Eva" of her mother's time, who had come "to bring work and the right to vote for women".

At the October 2005 legislative elections, Fernández was her party's main candidate for Senator in the Province of Buenos Aires district. She ran a heated campaign against Hilda González de Duhalde, the wife of former president Eduardo Duhalde. Fernández won the elections by 45,77%, followed by González de Duhalde with 20,43%.

Election to Presidency of Argentina

With Fernández leading all the pre-election polls by a wide margin, her challengers were trying to force her into a run-off. She needed either more than 45% of the vote, or 40% of the vote and a lead of more than 10% over her nearest rival, to win outright. Fernández won the election in the first round with 45.3% of the vote, followed by 22% for Elisa Carrió (candidate for the Civic Coalition) and 16% for former Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna. Eleven others split the remaining 15%. Kirchner was popular among the suburban working class and the rural poor, while Carrió received more support from the urban middle class, as did Lavagna. Of note, Kirchner lost the election in the three largest cities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario), although she won in most other places elsewhere, including the large provincial capitals such as Mendoza and Tucumán.

On November 14, the president-elect publicly announced the names of her new cabinet, which was sworn in on December 10. Of the 12 ministers appointed, seven were already ministers in Néstor Kirchner's government, while the other five took office for the first time. Three other ministries were created afterwards.

The president elect began a four-year term on December 10, 2007, facing challenges including inflation, union demands for higher salaries, private investment in key areas, lack of institutional credibility (exemplified by the controversy surrounding the national statistics bureau, INDEC), utility companies demanding authorization to raise their fees, low availability of cheap credit to the private sector, and the upcoming negotiation of the defaulted foreign debt with the Paris Club. Kirchner was the second female president of Argentina, after Isabel Martínez de Perón, but unlike Perón, Kirchner was the head of the ballot, whereas Isabel Perón was elected as vice president of Juan Domingo Perón and became president after his death. The transition from Néstor Kirchner to Cristina Kirchner was also the first time when a democratic head of state was replaced by his spouse, without involving the death of any of them. Néstor Kirchner stayed active in politics despite not being the president, and worked alongside Cristina Kirchner. The press developed the term "''presidential marriage''" to make reference to both of them at once. Some political analysts compared this type of government with a diarchy. However, on January 31, in a special meeting with Kirchner, the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne, clarified that the allegations "were never made by the United States government," and the dispute cooled down. Having said that the prosecutors making the charges are part of the independent judicial branch of the U.S. government

Elisa Carrió and María Estenssoro, both high ranking members of the main opposition parties, have claimed that the Argentine government's response to the allegations and its criticism of the U.S. are a "smokescreen", that the U.S. involvement in the affair was merely symptomatic, and the root cause of the scandal is corruption in the Argentine and Venezuelan governments.

2008

Riding a wave of approval during a dramatic economic recovery from a 2001–2002 crisis, the Kirchners' FPV had prevailed enjoyed increasingly large majorities in Congress, reaching their peak following the 2007 general elections (with 153 Congressmen and 44 Senators, at the time). In March 2008, Kirchner introduced a new sliding-scale taxation system for agricultural exports, effectively raising levies on soybean exports from 35% to 44% at the time of the announcement. This led to a nationwide lockout by farming associations, starting on March 12, with the aim of forcing the government to back down on the new taxation scheme. They were joined on March 25 by thousands of pot-banging demonstrators massed around the Buenos Aires Obelisk and in front of the presidential palace.

Protests extended across the country. In Buenos Aires, hours after Kirchner attacked farmers for their two-week strike and "abundant" profits, there were violent incidents between government supporters and opponents, to which the police was accused of wilfully turning a blind eye. The media was harshly critical of Luis D'Elía, a former government official who took part in the incidents, with some media sources and members of the opposition (notably Elisa Carrió), claiming that he and his followers had disrupted the protest pursuant to the government's orders. On April 1, the government organised a rally during which thousands of pro-government protesters marched through downtown Buenos Aires in support of the bill increasing Argentina's export taxes on the basis of a sliding scale; at the event, Kirchner called on farmers to act "as part of a country, not as owners of a country."

In April 2008, on the 26th anniversary of the Falklands War, Kirchner stepped up Argentine claims to the Falkland Islands. She called Argentina's rights to the islands "inalienable".

The large majorities in the Argentine Congress enjoyed by the Front for Victory could not ultimately guarantee a legislative blank check: on July 16, 2008, the presidentially sponsored bill met with deadlock, and was ultimately defeated by the tie-breaking "no" vote of Vice President Julio Cobos himself. The controversy cost the FPV 16 Congressmen and 4 Senators by way of defections. This put an end to the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector, though it cost Cobos access to the executive branch of the government. He was reportedly considered "a traitor" by the followers of Kirchner's administration. Cobos denied that he would resign, although the relationship between the President and the Vice President has an uncertain future.

A poll result published in ''El País'', Spain's most widely circulated daily newspaper, revealed that following the protests, Fernández's approval rating had "plummeted" from 57.8% at the start of her administration to an unprecedented 23%. Once recovered from the conflict with agrarian interests, Cristina Kirchner's public approval improved; her job approval ratings rose by 30% (''Poliarquía'', 08/22/08). Her inflexible handling of the protests and reluctance to review the policies that sparked the protest have led to speculation that it is her husband, predecessor in office and current leader of the Justicialist Party, Néstor Kirchner, who controls her administration. The British weekly newspaper ''The Economist'' has described this situation as Kirchner "paying the price for her husband's pig-headedness", and as of February 2009, her job approval rating was 28%.

On October 20, 2008, Fernández proposed the transfer of nearly US$30 billion in private pension holdings to the social security system, a law that was passed by Congress in late November.

President Cristina Kirchner is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Fernández was invited to the prestigious Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington, D.C., on November 15, 2008, by President George W. Bush. During her stay in Washington, she held meetings with Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown), Madeleine Albright (representing U.S. President-elect Barack Obama), Senator Christopher Dodd and Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd at the Park Hyatt Hotel. She then attended the G20 meeting in London April 2, 2009 and was given a seat of honour at the dinner held the night before at 10 Downing Street, when she was seated across from President Obama.

Also in the year 2008, Cristina Kirchner vetoed the "Law of protection of the glaciers" ( ), which had been approved almost unanimously in Congress (only 3 senators opposed the law). Critics have stated that the President's attitude would threaten over 75% of the country's water reserves.

Cristina Kirchner has travelled extensively as president, visiting Algeria, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, France, Libya, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Spain, the UK, the U.S. and Venezuela, among other nations.

2009

Following the June 28, 2009, mid-term elections, the ruling FPV's party list lost its absolute majority in both houses of Congress, shedding a further 24 seats in the Lower House (including allies) and 4 in the Senate. They lost in the four most important electoral districts (home to 60% of Argentines), and among these, the loss was narrow only in the Province of Buenos Aires. The FPV obtained a very narrow victory, overall, as a percentage of the national vote, and retained their plurality in Congress. This will be reflected in strengthened opposition alliances, notably the center-right Unión Pro, the centrist Civic Coalition and the left-wing Proyecto Sur, when elected candidates in both chambers take office on December 11, 2009.

Allegations of impropriety have contributed increasingly to the Kirchners' decline in approval, as well. The couple's own, latest federal financial disclosure in July 2009 revealed an increase in their personal assets by 7 times, since Néstor Kirchner's 2003 inaugural. The increase was partly the product of land deals in El Calafate, a scenic, Santa Cruz Province town where the couple has long vacationed and own property (including of land and two hotels).

On October 17, 2009, President Cristina Fernández proposed the compulsory submission of DNA samples in cases related to crimes against humanity, in a move lauded by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, but excoriated by opposition figures as a political move against Clarín Media Group Chairperson Ernestina Herrera de Noble, who is in litigation over her suspected adoption of two children of the "disappeared," and whose hitherto cordial relations with Kirchnerism had recently soured. Similar motives are alleged by the opposition against the president's Media Law, which would restrict the number of media licences per proprietor and allocate a greater share of these to state and NGOs, thereby limiting the influence of ''Clarín'' and the conservative ''La Nación''. The president's proposed enactment of mandatory primary elections for all of Argentina's myriad political parties, and for every elected post, was likewise rejected by opposition figures, who charged that these reforms could stymy minor parties and the formation of new ones.

Following charges of embezzlement filed by a local attorney, Enrique Piragini, on October 29, Federal Judge Norberto Oyarbide ordered an accounting expert to investigate the origin of the Kirchners’ wealth. Public records show that since their arrival to power in 2003, the declared assets of Cristina and Néstor Kirchner have increased by 572%. A preliminary report on the investigation by the Argentine Anti Corruption Office (OA) established that the official figures provided by the Kirchners "don't stack up". The investigation was suspended by Judge Oyarbide on December 30, though a week later, Piragini appealed the ruling.

On 29 October 2009 she launched a universal child benefit plan ( ) as a way to fight poverty with the goal to reach approximately five million children and youths. Since its creation, the program has been lauded for having boosted school attendance rates and reduced poverty amongst families

2010

The year began with controversy surrounding the president's order that a US$6.7 billion escrow account be opened at the Central Bank for the purpose of retiring high-interest bonds, whose principal is tied to inflation. The move met with the opposition of Central Bank President Martín Redrado, who refused to implement it, and following an impasse, he was dismissed by presidential decree on January 7, 2010.

Redrado refused to abide by the initial decree removing him from the presidency of the Central Bank, however, and petitioned for a judicial power to keep him in office. Accordingly, the president enacted another decree for his dismissal, citing "mis-conduct" on Redrado's part. The legitimacy of this new decree was questioned as well, as his dismissal would deny Redrado due process. Congress was at a recess period at the time, but most of its opposition members considered returning to override the decrees through an extraordinary session. The session became a source of controversy as well: Kirchner considered that, according to the 63rd article of the Constitution, only the President may call for an extraordinary session while the Congress is in recess. Cobos replied instead that all regulations concerning decrees require the immediate advise and consent of Congress, that the body's by-laws (56 and 57) allow extraordinary sessions called by any member, and that the commission formed for that purpose functions all at all times, even during recess.

The planned use of foreign exchange reserves through a Necessity and Urgency Decree was itself questioned by several opposition figures, who argued that such a decree may not meet a threshold of "necessity" and "urgency" required by the Constitution of Argentina for its enactment. Judge María José Sarmiento handed down a ruling preventing said use of reserves, and the Government reacted by appealing the ruling. President Kirchner defended the policy as a cost saving maneuver, whereby government bonds paying out 15 percent interest would be retired from the market. The move, however, also provided numerous vulture funds (holdouts from the 2005 debt restructuring who had resorted to the courts in a bid for higher returns on their defaulted bonds) a legal argument against the central bank's autarky, and thus facilitated a judgement lien on January 12 against a central bank account in New York.

Judge Sarmiento also annulled the decree that removed Redrado and reinstated him as President of the Central Bank the following day. The ruling also refuted claims of mis-conduct cited by President Cristina Kirchner to justify his removal. International media described the attempted removal of Redrado as authoritarian, while criticizing the planned use of reserves for debt retirement, as well as accelerating spending growth, as fiscally irresponsible. Opposition Congresswoman Elisa Carrió, a likely candidate in the upcoming 2011 presidential campaign, has raised the possibility of impeachment procedures against Mrs. Kirchner.

At the start of the month of February 2010, one of Cristina Fernández's private asessors resigned his post due to the claims of "illicit gain". Just two weeks afterwards, another of her private asesors, Julio Daniel Álvarez, resigned for the same reason.

On February 22, 2010, British oil explorer Desire Petroleum, started drilling exploration wells some north of the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, despite strong opposition from Argentina which took the issue to the Latin America and Caribbean Presidents summit where it received unanimous support. According to geological surveys carried out in 1998, there could be of oil in the area around the islands but the 2010 drill carried out poor results. As a result Desire's share price plummeted and the company announced further work could begin later this year (2010).

In March 2010 Fernández made an historic amends trip to Peru a country with whom relations had been adversely affected following the Carlos Menem administration's illegal sale of weapons to Ecuador in the 1990s. In the same month Fernández received the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Buenos Aires, where she received great support for the way her administration was managing the foreign debt issue and emphasized the positive relationship between the two countries something which was not reported by local major news media

In April 2010, Chile's new president Sebastián Piñera was received in Buenos Aires on his first foreign tour abroad and reaffirmed the current strong ties between the two countries. following which Cristina Fernández attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC, after which President Barack Obama thanked Argentina for its role in international stabilization and earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Back in Buenos Aires, she received the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev the first such visit in Argentina's history. Two days later, the Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyễn Tấn Dũng arrived. On April 19, she was invited to the bicentennary of the independence celebrations in Venezuela, where she was the main speaker in front of the National Assembly. She signed 25 trade agreements with Venezuela relating to food, technology and energy.

In May 2010, the President traveled to Spain for the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean summit, where she was asked to compare the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis and the 2001 Argentine's default. Back in Buenos Aires, during the Argentina Bicentennial celebrations, Cristina Fernández did not participate in the military parade of 5,000 troops (which included delegations of Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, etc.) on the 9 de Julio Avenue, which was considered a gest of contempt towards the Argentine Armed Forces.

In June 2010, her administration completed the debt swap (which was started by former president Néstor Kirchner in 2005) clearing 92% of the bad debt left from its sovereign default in 2001. Argentina external debt now represents 30% of the country's GDP, whilst the Central Bank foreign reserves reached $49 billion {USD}, more than the amount that was available when the decision to pay foreign debt earlier in the year was taken.

Also in June 2010, she gave a speech at the International Trade Union Confederation (CSI) Global Summit, being held in Vancouver, Canada where she asserted that "many Euro-zone countries today have applied the same policies that led Argentina to disaster (in 2001)," stating, also, that "it's an inescapable responsibility of the government to intervene in the financial system.". Later, she traveled to Toronto to attend the G20 Summit and spoke against the EU fiscal austerity plans fearing this would lead to a slow down in the global economy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy responded by saying that the Latin American representatives who reject the Eurozone adjustments do not know the "harrassment" to the Euro , to which Cristina Fernández responded that he shouldn't "question somebody" just because he doesn't "agree" with what they say and also clarified that Argentina is interested in the euro because parts of its reserves are held in euros and that she's "sure that Sarkozy does not have even one cent in Argentine pesos in his Central Bank.". Later addressing the press she added, "In Latin America we can give cathedra about harassment and seizure." She also had a chance to speak with new British PM David Cameron.

In July 2010, she traveled to the People's Republic of China with the goal of, according the Chinese embassy at Buenos Aires, strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries On her return, she signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina. This strained the government's already strained relationship with the Catholic Church. She also reaffirmed her policy of debt reduction in announcing to continue to pay foreign debt with Central Bank foreign reserves which reached a country historic record of $51 billion USD in July. In August 2010, Cristina Fernández began to use her Twitter account. She also preceded the 39th Mercosur summit at San Juan where the trade bloc agrees to reduce customs fees and signs a free-trade deal with Egypt

On September 2010, it was announced that Argentina was elected president of the Group of 77+China and prepared to act as a ‘bridge” with G-20 major economies to which it also belongs Cristina Fernández visited Chile during their Bicentenary celebrations where she also assisted at the baptism of a Chilean baby, Anaís Escobar Maldonado, born in the Argentine Hospital deployed at Curico after the earthquake. The visit had a high profile in the media mainly because of the possible extradition to Chile of Sergio Apablaza. She met with president Sebastian Piñera and participated in the festivities at the national stadium. She also confirmed the celebration of the III bi-national cabinet meeting for next October. Fernández then departed for New York to give her United Nations General Assembly speech where she once again criticized Britain over the Falklands (Malvinas) issue, and Iran for the 1994 AMIA bombing whilst giving her support for an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and an eventual Palestinian state. On September 30 she hosted the UNASUR presidents' emergency summit at Buenos Aires due the Ecuador crisis and started an official visit to Germany the following day in order to participate as a Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair and meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. In October she inaugurates the III News Agencies World Congress to be held in Bariloche. This same month, and as part of the 2006 civilian nuclear-power reactivation program, Fernández reopened the Pilcaniyeu uranium enrichment plant, put on ice in the 1990s, amid worsening shortages of natural gas. Following the death of her spouse (see below), Cristina Fernández resumed activities and flew to Asia for the G20 Seoul summit. After her return she announces that the Paris Club agrees to debt talks without the IMF intervention as proposed by Argentina since 2008. These negotiations will result in the settlement of the last portion of the sovereign debt defaulted in the 2001 crisis after the successful restructuring debts of 2005 and 2009. On November she also participated on the UNASUR Summit at Guyana after which will host the XX Ibero-American Summit at Mar del Plata

On the morning of 27 October 2010, her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner, died of a heart failure at the Hospital Jose Formenti in El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province. He had been subject to two coronary interventions earlier in the year (2010). On February 7, 2010, he developed problems with the common carotid artery and needed surgery. On September 11, he was intervened because of coronary artery blockage and needed an angioplasty. Néstor Kirchner had a massive state funeral at the Casa Rosada.

2011

The 2011 year is influenced by the general election that will take place in October. The youth organization the Cámpora increased its influence within the government, disputing offices and candidacies with the traditional structures of the Justicialist Party and the CGT. Cristina Fernández chose Daniel Filmus as mayor of Buenos Aires candidate. Nevertheless, she has not clarified whether she will run for a new term as president or not. On 21 June 2011 Cristina Fernández announced she will run for a second term as president. A few days later, she announced that Amado Boudou would run for the vicepresidency in her ticket. Most candidates for deputies were chosen personally by her, favoring the members of the Cámpora.

Cristina Fernandez had international conflicts with Brazil, regarding a disagreement over the trade quotas between the countries. She also had conflicts with the United States, after seizing a plane of the US military.

Cabinet

On November 14, 2007, the president-elect publicly announced the names of her new cabinet, which was sworn in on December 10. Of the 12 ministers appointed, seven were already ministers in Néstor Kirchner's government, while the other five took office for the first time. Three other ministries were created afterwards.

Relationship with the media

Fernández and her husband have always had a tempestuous relationship with the national media, particularly from 2007 onwards (despite previous excellent rapport) with Grupo Clarín corporation which is owner of video cable networks, multiple TV Channels, radios, the main newspaper and through most of a decade before 2010 the monopoly of the Argentine football, a so-called opinion-former.

In April 2008, Kirchner received a stern public rebuke from the Argentine media owners Association (Spanish: ''Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas Argentinas'', or ADEPA) for having publicly accused the popular cartoonist Hermenegildo Sábat of behaving like a "quasi mafioso". In addition, a government proposal to create a watchdog to monitor racism and discrimination was received with suspicion by ADEPA, who called it a "covert attempt to control the media". Néstor Kirchner, Cristina's husband and predecessor in office, received a similar rebuke for publicly and falsely denouncing Joaquín Morales Solá, a journalist critical of the government, for having produced an inflammatory text published in 1978.

On September 11, 2009, she advanced the decriminalization of injurious calumny against public officials, a charge which had, in 2000, resulted in a prison term of one year for Eduardo Kimel, a journalist investigating the San Patricio Church massacre of 1976. She drew fire from a highly controversial Audiovisual Media Law proposed shortly afterwards, however. Defended by the government as a reform intended to fragment ownership of media companies as to encourage plurality of opinion, the bill was criticised by part of the opposition as a means to silence voices critical of the government, especially those in the Clarín media group (the country's largest). However, a significant amount of opposing congressmen voted in favor of the law, as they considered it was clearly an improvement on the existing one, and that the government had been willing to negotiate and modify parts of the proposed new law to improve it.

The law has aroused further controversy, given that in its passing through the chambers of the legislature, the mandatory 7 day period between debate and assent of the new legislation was ignored. The view among the part of the opposition that opposed the bill is that Kirchner’s government tried to rush the law through parliament before December 2009, when the government could have lost its absolute majorities in Congress.

Dr. Lauro Laíño, the president of ADEPA (media owners), in a speech given on the 24 September 2009, opposed the proposed law, and added that in Latin America, especially in Venezuela and Argentina, “press freedom was being undermined under the suspicious pretext of plurality” Others, notably press freedom advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières, have expressed some support for the measure, citing the need to repeal the Radio Broadcast Law of 1980 enacted by the National Reorganization Process, Argentina's last military government.

The acrimony between Cristina Kirchner's government and the national media was exacerbated by a series of lock-ins carried out by the truck drivers' union led by Pablo Moyano, son of Hugo Moyano, a close ally of the Kirchner government. During the lock in, the country's most widely circulated newspapers (''Clarín'' and ''La Nación'') were prevented by force and threats of violence from distributing papers to newsstands. On 7 November 2009, the Association of Newspaper Editors of Buenos Aires (AEDBA) issued a statement in which it claimed that the truck drivers' unions' actions had been the fiercest attack on the free circulation of newspapers the country had seen since its return to democratic rule in 1983.

On 2010 the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that the judicial movement made by an opposition deputy who tried to suspend the new Media Law, which was approved by the National Congress, was illegal.

Public image

In 2008, she was ranked by the magazine ''Forbes'' as thirteenth in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, being the second female head of government in the list below Angela Merkel. In 2009 she rose to eleventh, but in 2010 she fell to sixty-eighth. In 2010, she was ranked by the magazine ''Time'' as second in the list of the Top 10 Female Leaders of the World.

Her public image decreased during the conflict with the agricultural sector, leading to a defeat of the party in 2009. The Death and state funeral of Néstor Kirchner increased her public image again.

Her speeches work with appeals to emotion, both at the beginning and the end. She makes frequent appeals to pity by mentions to the death of her husband and her own pain about it. The achivements of both Néstor's administration and her own are treated with hyperbole and compared with the 2001 economic crisis.

Style

Cristina is known for being passionate about clothes. According to The Times, "Cristina has deployed her glamour and sexuality as potent weapons on her way to a goal that not even the legendary Eva Peron was able to achieve.". She likes the mixture of textures, colors and prints, and has some favorite designers from Argentina. She always wears makeup and high heels.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is often criticized by observers - in both the media and the world of politics - for her excessive spending on clothes, jewelry and shoes. She rarely wears the same attire twice and in many cases, has been criticized for arriving late to meetings with international leaders, because she was getting dressed.

Since Néstor's death, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has decided to wear only black attire. So far, she has worn more than 200 different black outfits, including tailleurs, suits, pants, evening dresses and jackets.

Bibliography

References

External links

Cristina Fernandez on Honduras Coup Office of the President Official site of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Senate of the Argentine Republic website Extensive biography by CIDOB Foundation

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Category:Presidents of Argentina Category:Current national leaders Category:Members of the Argentine Senate Category:Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies Category:Justicialist Party politicians Category:Argentine lawyers Category:People from La Plata Category:Argentine Roman Catholics Category:University of La Plata alumni Category:Female heads of government Category:Female heads of state Category:Argentine women in politics Category:Spouses of the Presidents of Argentina Category:Néstor Kirchner Category:1953 births Category:Living people

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