Former President Néstor Kirchner – the country’s most powerful politician along with his wife, current president Cristina Fernandez – died after suffering a heart attack, the presidency said, informs Buenos Aires Herold and many others Thursdag.
Kirchner, 60, died after he was rushed in grave condition to the Formenti de Calafate hospital while having a severe heart attack, the presidency said.
Kirchner, 60, had undergone an angioplasty after a heart attack in September, but was still a likely candidate in next year’s presidential elections.
He also served as secretary general of the South American alliance known as Unasur, as a congressman and as leader of the Peronist party.
The news shocked Argentines, who by law were staying at home to be counted. Kirchner’s supporters planned a mass gathering outside the Government House. Already, dozens of Argentines showed up in the Plaza de Mayo before the palace, standing silently in mourning.
Kirchner worked hand-in-hand with his wife to maintain the ruling party’s hold on power. Even more than Fernández de Kirchner, he was seen by his supporters as the succesor to Argentina’s strongman Juan Domingo Perón and one of the few people capable of managing Argentina’s unruly and chaotic political scene.
The leader of the human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, said Kirchner “gave his life for his country.”
“Our country needed this man so much. He was indispensable,” she told a local radio.
Kirchner served as president from 2003-2007.,
