The Argentineans go to the polls, Sunday, October 27, to designate their new president. Center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez is favored, far ahead of incumbent Liberal President Mauricio Macri.

"With the vote on Sunday, we must turn the dishonorable page that began to be written on December 10, 2015" (date of the victory of Mauricio Macri, Ed), launched Thursday Alberto Fernandez at its final rally.

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Cristina Kirchner, scout of Fernandez

Former President Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015), associated with Alberto Fernandez as vice-presidential candidate, was at his side.

If the forecasts of all polls are confirmed, Alberto Fernandez, 60, should win the first round. For this, he must obtain more than 45% of the votes, or more than 40% of the votes with an advantage of more than 10 points on the candidate who came in second. If this is not the case, a second round will take place on November 24th.

"I can not wait until Monday comes, Fernandez and Cristina come," exclaimed Sergio Esteves, a 48-year-old florist with two children.

The poll opens at 8:00 am local time (11:00 am GMT) and ends at 6:00 pm (9:00 pm GMT). The results will be known from 9 pm local time (0 am GMT, Monday).

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According to polls, the gap in favor of Alberto Fernandez has increased further since the primaries of August (considered a dress rehearsal before the presidential election), where Alberto Fernandez had advanced 17 points Mauricio Macri, the candidate preferred markets.

Worst economic crisis since 2001

The 60-year-old outgoing president is ending his term in the midst of the worst economic crisis Argentina has experienced since 2001. In recession for more than a year, the country is experiencing high inflation (37.7% in September), a massive debt and a rising poverty rate (35.4%, or one in three Argentineans).

But investors fear that a victory of Alberto Fernandez does not bring about the return of the interventionist policies of the period of Kirchnerism (2003-2015).

Analysts are also wondering who would actually rule: Alberto Fernandez, former chief of staff of Cristina Kirchner and her husband Nestor Kirchner (president from 2003 to 2007), or Mrs. Kirchner, 66 years.

Accustomed to economic upheavals, many Argentines gathered Friday in front of banks and exchange offices to buy dollars or withdraw their deposits.

Alberto Fernandez tried to reassure them. "Let the Argentines be quiet, we will respect your deposits," he said, referring to the specter of "corralito", the unofficial name of the measures taken in 2001 in Argentina to end a race for liquidity and the flight of capital.

A polarized Argentina

But Martin, a 50-year-old filmmaker, did not trust him. He wore a briefcase Friday full of Argentine notes with which he planned to buy $ 3,000 in a bureau de change. "It's always the same story," he said. "My parents have lost everything in the corralito, I do not want it to happen to me."

Since the primaries, Argentinian savers have withdrawn some $ 12 billion from their accounts, about 36.4% of the total.

The winner of the election, whatever it may be, will have to emerge from the crisis to achieve consensus, which is not easy in an increasingly polarized Argentina.

Two days before the election, the markets were boiling on Friday. In one week, the peso lost 5.86% of its value against the dollar. The American currency is historically the refuge of the Argentineans in case of crisis.

With AFP