"It is a very difficult task that Fernández now faces"

As expected, it was a loss for incumbent President Mauricio Macri. Why?

It is the economy that has been the most important issue. Argentina is undergoing a deep crisis with soaring inflation, falling currencies and rising unemployment and new poverty. Mauricio Macri is a successful multi-millionaire who, when elected four years ago, promised to quickly fix the country's financial problems. But four years later, the fact is a doubling of inflation and a six times more expensive dollar. For this failure, voters have now punished Macri. At the same time, Fernandez's victory margin was smaller than the opinion polls signaled. This is because the Argentine society is deeply divided and that there are large sections of the population who dislike the leftist nationalist ideology - Peronism - represented by Fernández and his Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Argentina is in deep economic crisis. What opportunities does Fernández have to reverse the trend?

This is a very difficult task that Fernández now faces. Argentina's problems are structural and there are no simple recipes. The most urgent tasks will be to curb inflation, stop the collapse of the Argentine peso and manage the country's large loans to the International Monetary Fund. Already during the election night, the Central Bank of Argentina announced that as of Monday, they are facing tough currency restrictions, which means that the Argentines can exchange a maximum of $ 200 a month. The aim of the measure is to curb capital flight from the country. But it will also help to increase the activity in the black currency market, which has gained momentum lately. Among investors, there is great concern that there will be a chaotic handover between Macri and Fernández that puts the Argentine economy under further pressure. Therefore, the incumbent president and his newly elected successor have decided to have breakfast together on Monday morning to try to agree on an action plan for the coming months and thus provide reassuring news to the market. Clear news from the new government also expects the poorer section of the population hard hit by cuts and now promised investments in education, healthcare and job creation.

What does the election result in Argentina mean for the balance of power in the region?

South America is currently undergoing a very turbulent period. Mass protests against cuts have shaken the governments of Chile and Ecuador. Evo Morales was re-elected in Bolivia but accused by the opposition of electoral fraud. And in Brazil, the Bolsonaro family is undergoing drastic changes. The relationship between neighbors Argentina and Brazil is likely to be shaky. Bolsonaro has openly supported Macri during the election campaign and threatened to push Argentina out of the Mercosur trade bloc if the country goes left under Fernández. If South America's two largest economies end up colliding with each other, it will have serious consequences for economic development and the opportunities for regional integration. Already during election night, Argentina's next president Alberto Fernández clearly took a stand. He congratulated Morales on the election victory in Bolivia and demanded that Brazil's President Lula be released. In this way, he clearly chose the side in the regional power struggle between left and right governments. The influence of global superpowers in the region will also be affected by the election results in Argentina. Macri has brought Argentina closer to the United States, but Fernandez's team has plans to work more closely with China and Russia in areas such as energy, infrastructure and security policy.