Cristina Fernandez (President)

on Wednesday, 14 October 2009.

Cristina Elizabet Fernández de Kirchner, commonly known as Cristina Kirchner, is the current President of Argentina. A member of the Justicialist Party, she was a Senator for Buenos Aires Province prior to taking office. She is the wife of former President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner, and acted as First Lady during his term.

In the October 2007 general election, Fernández ran for the presidency of Argentina, representing the ruling Front for Victory party. She won with 45.29% of the vote, a 22% lead over her nearest rival. This was one of the widest margins obtained by a candidate since democracy returned in 1983, and it avoided the need for a runoff election.

She is Argentina's first elected female President, and the second female President ever to serve (after Isabel Martinez de Perón, 1974-1976). In 2008, she was ranked by the magazine Forbes as thirteenth in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.