澳门六合彩

Argentine President Mauricio Macri has been one of Latin America鈥檚 loudest critics of the Maduro regime 鈥� a posture that has lubricated聽聽with the Trump administration. In the Lima Group and at the Organization of American States, he has propelled efforts to isolate and sanction Venezuela, and to聽聽opposition leader Juan Guaid贸, the National Assembly leader widely recognized as Venezuela鈥檚 interim president.

Mr. Macri鈥檚 views on Venezuela have been聽, reflecting a distaste for the Bolivarian economic model and alarm over Venezuela鈥檚 worsening聽聽and humanitarian聽, including blackouts and the聽聽of preventable diseases. Now, as Mr. Macri faces a brutal reelection campaign,聽his advisers hope his longtime efforts to address Venezuela鈥檚 collapse will yield political dividends.

In his聽聽in March, Mr. Macri cited Venezuela as he drew attention to Cambiemos鈥檚 sweeping foreign policy reforms.聽鈥�Tenemos un rol importante para desempe帽ar en la comunidad internacional,鈥� he said.聽He also previewed how he will wield the Venezuela issue to highlight a major聽聽between Cambiemos and its populist rival, former President Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner. Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner, after all, was famously close to Venezuela, as we have聽observed聽previously in the Weekly Asado. In 2013, for example, she聽聽Nicol谩s Maduro the Orden del Libertador San Mart铆n. Mr. Macri has called her alliance with Caracas one of the Kirchner-era 鈥�ejes de la pol铆tica exterior de nuestro pa铆s.鈥�

Mr. Macri鈥檚 Venezuela cudgel is not only designed to taint Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner by her association with an Andean despot whose human rights record prompted a complaint to the International Criminal Court. It is also a warning to Argentine voters that a return to Kirchner-style Peronism risks putting Argentina on a path to Venezuela-style dystopia.

Will it work? It is not clear. After all, even in the heyday of聽chavismo, Latin American fearmongering campaigns that painted leftist candidates as the next Hugo Ch谩vez yielded mixed results.

However, in Argentina today, the Venezuela crisis does appear to be a politically useful issue for the center-right government. Venezuela was the least popular country included in our latest聽ArgentinaPulse聽survey, with聽83 percent of Argentines reporting a negative view. Moreover, Venezuela is not a partisan issue; opponents and supporters of Mr. Macri generally agree on their disappointment in the country, a onetime prosperous and democratic haven for Argentine exiles.

For Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner, the comparison clearly puts her on the defensive: She is forced to address the democratic collapse of her onetime ally, while聽ing聽that her return to the Casa Rosada would not turn Argentina into an economic basket case unable to feed its people. (Under Mr. Macri, of course, Argentina鈥檚 economy has sputtered, but it is immeasurably healthier than the Venezuelan economic nightmare.)

So far, Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner has largely聽. But her allies in congress have stood by Mr. Maduro, saying international efforts to install Mr. Guaid贸 constitute an聽. That has deepened Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner鈥檚 association with the Maduro regime, a potential liability in the election.聽It has also left her isolated within Peronism. Mainstream Peronists running for president, like Sergio Massa and Juan Manuel Urtubey, have聽聽Mr. Maduro. (In聽remarks聽at 澳门六合彩 in February, libertarian candidate Jos茅 Luis Espert went further, calling for an armed intervention to remove Mr. Maduro.)

Demographics have also changed since Ms. Fern谩ndez de Kirchner developed close ties to Venezuela. From 2015 to 2018, Argentina鈥檚 Venezuelan population skyrocketed by 639 percent, as a result of Venezuela鈥檚 migration crisis and Mr. Macri鈥檚 migration policy changes. Though few of these Venezuelans will vote in Argentina鈥檚 October election, they are politically mobilized and would not welcome a candidate sympathetic to the regime they fled.