BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, the current president’s husband and a contender to succeed her in next year’s election, died from a heart attack today.
Kirchner, 60, was credited by many Argentines with putting South America’s No. 2 economy back on its feet after a devastating 2001/02 economic crisis, but critics reviled his combative governing style.
“It was a sudden death,” Kirchner’s doctor, Luis Buonomo, told Reuters after the former president died in the Patagonian tourist city of El Calafate, where he and President Cristina Fernandez have a weekend home.
Financial markets rallied following news of the death of the center-leftist, who kept a firm hold on the reins of power even after his wife was elected to succeed him in 2007.
His death raises uncertainty about the government’s strategy for next year’s election, and might encourage Fernandez to seek a second consecutive term. Her approval ratings have been consistently higher than Kirchner’s.
Kirchner, elected as a virtual unknown in 2003 on the ashes of the economic meltdown, started his political career in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, where he was governor for many years.
He was a member of the dominant Peronist party and oversaw a strong economic recovery that won him solid backing.
“He did a lot for the country. The country was broken, destroyed and he straightened things out,” said Lito, 67, a Buenos Aires taxi driver.
