08/02/2011
The House can be White or the House can be Pink; the President can be American or the President can be Argentine. Because when it comes to a Presidential sex scandal, nobody’s picky.
Two days ago, the Argentine magazine Noticias published a confession from one Elizabeth Miriam Quiroga, stating that, while she did have sex with that man (former President Néstor Kirchner), the kid is not his daughter.
But to that she cheekily added: “I wish it were his! I wouldn’t have money problems today.”
That I’d never heard of Quiroga before this isn’t surprising, because until recently, apparently most Argentines hadn’t heard of her either.
Generally speaking, I’d think all but a select few would know the name of most world leaders’ secretaries, or interns for that matter.
That is until they become the focus of a certain investigation or investigations—posthumous or not— into what might be called behavior unbefitting a President.
Quiroga started working for President Kirchner back in the nineties, when he was Governor Kirchner of the southern province of Santa Cruz, so the length of their professional relationship probably threw off most of those who might have suspected hanky-panky.
But as Quiroga said, the secrecy didn’t prevent them from having “a strong relationship.” So strong and secret, in fact, that she ended up with a cushy job inside the Casa Rosada.
She was the Director of the Centre for Presidential Documentation.
As to what the hell that meant…I had no idea.
A little cursory research revealed the job description involved responding to letters and requests from all around the country. As such, she fancied herself some sort of reincarnation of Evita. At least she did until she was fired a month ago.
The order undoubtedly came from the widow-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Who could blame her?
Months after her husband’s death, the Noticias headline had Quiroga being called “the other widow”…
And so it would appear Néstor Kirchner wasn’t a saint; he was a politician in the mold of myriad philander-statesmen who have preceded him. For the Argentine cuckquean, some solace might be found in acknowledging things could be worse—she could be married to Fernando Lugo; her Paraguayan counterpart not only had multiple lovers, but had them while he was a Bishop.
Many wonder how the Argentine public will react.
As it stands, even if she was, as she says, “thrown out like a dog”—no one seems to be crying for ‘Evita’ Quiroga. Though maybe they’re just saving their pity for when her first line of handbags comes out…
As for the widow-President, who first loses her husband, finds out courtesy of Wikileaks that the American government thinks she’s crazy, then is forced to deal with the world knowing her dead husband had a lengthy affair—well, let’s just say her opponents are wondering when the moratorium on nasty politicking can resume.
Because, of course, there’s still a Presidential election next October; she's still expected to run; and there’s no fun to be had with clean campaigns.
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