ARGENTINA: People pay tributes to the powerful former President Nestor Kirchner who died suddenly a year ago

Record ID: 446672

  • Title: ARGENTINA: People pay tributes to the powerful former President Nestor Kirchner who died suddenly a year ago
  • Date: 27th October 2011
  • Summary: SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF THE MAUSOLEUM WHERE KIRCHNER'S REMAINS WILL BE PLACED VARIOUS OF WORKERS ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES GENERAL VIEW OF THE MAUSOLEUM WORKER ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCHES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT, ANIBAL BILLONI, SAYING: "It is a work for everyone and I understand it as a concrete demonstration of all the effects, all the feelings and all the nice things that he left and generated in this impassioned life that marked the course of this province and its residents." BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) KIRCHNER BEING SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT IN 2003 FORMER PRESIDENT EDUARDO DUHALDE HANDING OVER PRESIDENTIAL SASH AND BATON, TO APPLAUSE, AND KIRCHNER WAVING BATON IN AIR TO CELEBRATE
  • Embargoed: 11th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8BDKHWWRRH5SEA2S8C8YRWMFS
  • Story Text: Argentines paid homage to former president Nestor Kirchner on Wednesday (October 26), a day before the anniversary of his death from a heart attack.
    A statue of the leader, who was married to president Cristina Fernandez, was unveiled in Buenos Aires in front of a group of miners from the Rio Turbio region, who he had represented as a lawyer in his early years.
    The workers applauded enthusiastically as the work was revealed in front of an assembled crowd of supporters.
    The statue will be transferred to the city's primary plaza in front of the government house, the Casa Rosada, on Thursday (October 27) amid further acts of remembrance.
    Mario Castillo, Secretary-General of the Association of State Workers in Rio Turbio, explained the importance of the memorial, which, after being displayed in the capital, will be installed in their corner of Patagonia.
    "Nestor took us out of last position. That is significant for us and [we want] to remember him that way. We want to have him present in our hearts always and permanently, so we want to move it [the statue] to the Rio Turbio mine in 30 days time," said Castillo.
    A stone mausoleum in Kirchner's honour has also been constructed in the province of Santa Cruz, where he rose to power as the governor in the 1990s.
    It was also in this southern province that, while on vacation with Fernandez, he died suddenly on October 27, 2010.
    Arguably Argentina's most powerful politician, his death shocked the nation.
    Fernandez will travel to Santa Cruz on Thursday (October 27) to inaugurate the mausoleum, where her husband's remains will be placed.
    Local resident Anibal Billoni said the monument was a way of remembering the work he did for the province.
    "It is a work for everyone and I understand it as a concrete demonstration of all the effects, all the feelings and all the nice things that he left and generated in this impassioned life that marked the course of this province and its residents," said Billoni.
    Kirchner was elected president as a virtual unknown in 2003 and was credited with putting the economy back on track after a devastating 2001-2002 economic meltdown.
    Poised for re-election in 2007, he passed the baton to Fernandez, prompting rumours the two aimed to leap frog terms to prolong their dynasty.
    Last Sunday (October 23), Fernandez, bolstered by sympathy for her widowhood, swept to one of the most resounding election wins in Argentine history, relying on the strength of Latin America's fastest-growing economy and a raft of popular social reforms.
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