The 2019 presidential elections in Argentina will take place on October 27. The axes of the vote, as well as the building of coalitions, are a source of contention between the main contenders. That is, between Mauricio Macri’s government and the opposition led by Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
The long race that is currently underway started at the beginning of this year with the primaries in the province of La Pampa. The candidates and coalitions which will be competing for national office - first at the national primaries in August, then at the general elections in October and, probably, at the second round of the presidential elections in November – have already been decided. We are already at the start of the second half and you can feel the tension.
This is a long battle, and it is quite clear who the two main competitors are. On the one hand, the national government of the right-wing coalition Cambiemos will seek to retain the Casa Rosada. To this end, it has reshaped its structure, increasing allies and maintaining the faithful. It has even done some rebranding: the alliance is now called Together for Change. On the other hand, Peronism, that broad and heterogeneous movement encompassing almost anything, has tried and succeeded in unifying most of its internal currents under the banner of the Front for All. We are back to square one: Mauricio Macri versus Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Other options trail behind: the Federal Consensus (a coalition of progressive parties and Peronists not aligned with Kirchnerism), two leftist options, and a few right-leaning ones.
