Argentines voted Sunday in an unprecedented presidential runoff that could end 12 years of leftist government and see the pro-market opposition seize command of Latin America's third-biggest economy.
Polls showed the mayor of Buenos Aires, former Boca Juniors football executive Mauricio Macri, 56, could cause an upset by beating his left-wing rival Daniel Scioli, 58, an ex-powerboating champion.
If Macri breaks the grip of Peronism, the broad populist movement that has dominated Argentine politics for much of the past 70 years, he could become Argentina's most economically liberal leader since the 1990s.
Macri is looking to capitalize on discontent among many voters after 12 years of government by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her predecessor and late husband, Nestor Kirchner.
"He represents a change of regime. Populism is a scourge," said Luis Nizzo, an 81-year-old retired engineer, after voting for Macri at a school in Buenos Aires.
"We have lived too long with Peronism. This has been the most corrupt government in Argentina's history."
But Guillermo Juarez, 25, said he voted for Scioli "because of everything they say about Macri -- that he will take away support for working people and cut social welfare programs."
Macri has vowed to free up trade and liberalize the economy following policies of state control and protectionism favored by the Kirchners.
"It is a historic day that will change our lives," he told a crowd of reporters and supporters who yelled "Yes we can!"
Scioli, an ally of Kirchner but closer to the political center, said that Macri's proposals threatened Argentines' welfare payments, salaries and industry. Yet he too has admitted the need for certain financial reforms.
He called on voters to "choose the best path for social, economic and political stability," after casting his ballot.
- Argentine trade and dollars -
Turnout was 66 percent about an hour and a half before the close of polling, due at 2100 GMT, the electoral authority said. It said voting was going ahead without incidents.
The latest opinion poll by consultancy Management and Fit showed Macri with 55.3 percent support and Scioli with 44.7 percent.
Analysts warned that polls in Argentina have proved unreliable in the past, however. The surveys also indicated there were millions of undecided voters.
Macri surprised pollsters in the first round vote by finishing just three points behind his rival, with 34.1 percent of the vote to Scioli's 37 percent.
The narrow result forced Argentina's first ever first presidential runoff vote.
The increasingly tense campaign was fought on shifting political ground in the vast South American nation of 42 million people.
Macri proposed to immediately lift restrictions on imports and on US dollars. Analysts say he might struggle to push reforms through a hostile Congress.
His rise raised hopes among financiers, but fears among domestic businesses and poorer Argentines who have benefited from the social and trade policies of the combative outgoing president.
Whoever wins will face a dispute with so-called "holdout" creditors who have sued Argentina in the US courts for unpaid debts. Scioli and Kirchner call the hedge funds "vultures."
The Kirchners presided over a spectacular economic turnaround after a 2001 financial crisis.
Cristina Kirchner had sharp words at times for foreign powers including the United States, and for Britain in the territorial dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as Las Malvinas.
Voting in her southern home region of Patagonia, she insisted "there have never been 12 years of such economic and social stability as our governments have offered."
The economic recovery now seems to be flagging, however. Growth was relatively slow at 2.2 percent in the first half of this year and inflation is soaring.
Argentines voted Sunday in an unprecedented presidential runoff that could end 12 years of leftist government and see the pro-market opposition seize command of Latin America’s third-biggest economy.
Polls showed the mayor of Buenos Aires, former Boca Juniors football executive Mauricio Macri, 56, could cause an upset by beating his left-wing rival Daniel Scioli, 58, an ex-powerboating champion.
If Macri breaks the grip of Peronism, the broad populist movement that has dominated Argentine politics for much of the past 70 years, he could become Argentina’s most economically liberal leader since the 1990s.
Macri is looking to capitalize on discontent among many voters after 12 years of government by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her predecessor and late husband, Nestor Kirchner.
“He represents a change of regime. Populism is a scourge,” said Luis Nizzo, an 81-year-old retired engineer, after voting for Macri at a school in Buenos Aires.
“We have lived too long with Peronism. This has been the most corrupt government in Argentina’s history.”
But Guillermo Juarez, 25, said he voted for Scioli “because of everything they say about Macri — that he will take away support for working people and cut social welfare programs.”
Macri has vowed to free up trade and liberalize the economy following policies of state control and protectionism favored by the Kirchners.
“It is a historic day that will change our lives,” he told a crowd of reporters and supporters who yelled “Yes we can!”
Scioli, an ally of Kirchner but closer to the political center, said that Macri’s proposals threatened Argentines’ welfare payments, salaries and industry. Yet he too has admitted the need for certain financial reforms.
He called on voters to “choose the best path for social, economic and political stability,” after casting his ballot.
– Argentine trade and dollars –
Turnout was 66 percent about an hour and a half before the close of polling, due at 2100 GMT, the electoral authority said. It said voting was going ahead without incidents.
The latest opinion poll by consultancy Management and Fit showed Macri with 55.3 percent support and Scioli with 44.7 percent.
Analysts warned that polls in Argentina have proved unreliable in the past, however. The surveys also indicated there were millions of undecided voters.
Macri surprised pollsters in the first round vote by finishing just three points behind his rival, with 34.1 percent of the vote to Scioli’s 37 percent.
The narrow result forced Argentina’s first ever first presidential runoff vote.
The increasingly tense campaign was fought on shifting political ground in the vast South American nation of 42 million people.
Macri proposed to immediately lift restrictions on imports and on US dollars. Analysts say he might struggle to push reforms through a hostile Congress.
His rise raised hopes among financiers, but fears among domestic businesses and poorer Argentines who have benefited from the social and trade policies of the combative outgoing president.
Whoever wins will face a dispute with so-called “holdout” creditors who have sued Argentina in the US courts for unpaid debts. Scioli and Kirchner call the hedge funds “vultures.”
The Kirchners presided over a spectacular economic turnaround after a 2001 financial crisis.
Cristina Kirchner had sharp words at times for foreign powers including the United States, and for Britain in the territorial dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as Las Malvinas.
Voting in her southern home region of Patagonia, she insisted “there have never been 12 years of such economic and social stability as our governments have offered.”
The economic recovery now seems to be flagging, however. Growth was relatively slow at 2.2 percent in the first half of this year and inflation is soaring.
