Ivan Briscoe is senior researcher at the Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (Fride), Madrid. He was previously editor of the English edition of El País newspaper in Madrid and also worked for the Buenos Aires Herald, the UNESCO Courier and in the field of development research.

Recent articles

A wave of change across the Americas is transforming states and societies, creating new intra-regional and global alliances, and challenging the United States's hegemony. As the fifth Summit of the Americas gathers, Ivan Briscoe assesses these interlocking shifts.

The global orthodoxy on the international narcotics trade lags far behind its spreading realities, says Ivan Briscoe.

A crucial round of elections finds Hugo Chávez's tumultuous revolution at a historic impasse, finds Ivan Briscoe in Caracas.

(This article was first published on 21 November 2008)

Last year, Time magazine made her the "Latin Hillary." It was a comparison which President Cristina Kirchner seemed to fancy, just as Germany was the country she wished Argentina to become. A few months later, bruised in the opinions polls and beaten in the convulsive struggle over farm taxes, she faced the press - for the first time in her presidency - and let it be known that Obama was her new idol. "I've never been as interested in a presidential election in the United States," she said.

A seething revolt over farm-taxes has polarised Argentina in the early months of Cristina Kirchner's reign. But, says Ivan Briscoe, the dispute exposes a deeper crisis as the unresolved tensions of Argentina's modern political history return to confront its leaders and people alike.