With sky-high commodity prices, South America was gov- erned according to the Hugo Chavez project in Venezuela, the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil, the Kirchner power couple in Argentina, and other like-minded projects in the region. South American coffers were filled by Chinese purchases of oil, grains and m

dent Cristina Kirchner in the October 25 elections. She has held office since 2007 and, before that, her husband held the presidency from 2003-06. - Kirchner’s handpicked successor, current governor of Buenos Aires province, Daniel Scioli (of the Peronist faction) leads in the elections held last week. But