Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was sworn in Saturday to a second four-year term at the peak of her popularity but with the country's booming economy shadowed by Europe's financial crisis. The 58-year-old took the oath of office, invoking her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner, and then received the presidential sash from her daughter Florencia amid cheers and applause in Congress.
Outside Congress, thousands of young Argentine followers watching the ceremony on a giant screen shouted "Cristina, Cristina." The presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia attended the swearing-in ceremony, along with lawmakers and supporters from her Peronist party. Kirchner was re-elected October 23 with 54.11 percent vote, a single round landslide that buried her nearest competitors and won her back control of Congress.
A slew of popular social programs and years of strong, virtually uninterrupted economic growth powered her re-election a year after her husband's sudden death of a heart attack. Still in mourning, Kirchner wore black to her swearing-in ceremony and ended the oath of office with a reference to her husband, declaring "May God, country and he hold me to account."
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