The photo shows cargo trucks ready to take big chopped trunks of quebracho trees to the sawmills in Juan Jose Castelli, a small city on the edge of an area of the Chaco, the largest tract of forest in Argentina. Flickr. Some rights reserved.
On October 25, Argentines will go to the polls to vote for their new president. Daniel Scioli, the chosen successor of current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is the favourite to win, but he will be challenged by Mauricio Macri (Cambiemos – Let’s Change Alliance) and Sergio Massa (Unidos por una Nueva Alternativa - United for a New Alternative). Judging from the opinion polls, the outcome is still far from certain.
It is tempting to interpret the election as a juncture: a stark choice between a renewed lease of life for the party which has held power for the last 12 years, or a break of continuity. But the obvious rifts between the candidates and the major parties mask a fundamental reality: Argentina’s development model is not up for discussion.
