October 24, 2011
That is sort of striking since its President Cristina Kirchner seems headed for re-election with a clear majority of the votes. Argentina has also enjoyed the strongest growth over the last decade of any country in Latin America. Nonetheless all 5 of the NYT’s sources in an article discussing the election were critical of Kirchner.
This quote deserves special mention:
“‘This election really seemed to defy the normal rules of politics,’ said Michael Shifter, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. ‘But that is what happens when things are going well in the economy and there is a dearth of alternatives.'”
It really should not have been hard to find someone who has positive things to say about President Kirchner. It appears that the NYT is relying on a narrow range of sources who are more in tune with Argentina’s creditors than the majority of the Argentine population.
The article at one point comments negatively about the state of Argentina’s economy, noting that growth is expected to slow to 4.6 percent next year. This rate would still be almost a full percentage point faster than the average growth rate in Brazil over the last decade. Brazil is described as a positive contrast to Argentina in the article.
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