At a packed ceremony in Argentina's Congress on December 10th, Néstor Kirchner gave his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a gift hitherto unknown in the history of marriage: his country's presidential sash and staff. In an improvised but fluent speech, she returned the compliment by lavishing praise on his achievements, and promising to consolidate them. She has kept many of her husband's ministers. But amid this seamless display of political continuity are hints of change ahead for Argentina.

　　Ms Fernández, although a former senator and experienced politician in her own right, owes her elevation to her husband's decision not to seek a second term. In that sense, her status as Argentina's first elected woman president is not quite the feminist victory it appears.

　　Buoyed by his popularity—the economy has expanded by nearly 50% since he took office in 2003—she coasted to victory in an election in October with the slogan “change is just beginning”. In foreign affairs, that may be true. She has also implied that she will be more respectful of Argentina's democratic institutions than her sometimes high-handed husband. Where Mr Kirchner seemed to relish confrontation, she ran as a consensus-builder.

　　Her biggest test will be the management of an economy that shows signs of overheating after its vigorous recovery from the financial collapse of 2001-02.


双语新闻：阿根廷前第一夫人变身女总统
　　12月10日在阿根廷济济一堂的国会仪式上，内斯托尔·基什内尔给了他妻子克里斯蒂娜·费尔南德斯·德·基什内尔一件婚姻历史上前所未有的礼物：国家总统的绶带和权杖。在即兴发挥但语言流畅的讲话中，她对丈夫所取得的成就大加赞赏并承诺要强化这些成就。她也保留了她丈夫的许多部长。但是，在这种天衣无缝的[屏蔽]延续的表象之下却暗示着阿根廷的[屏蔽]即将开始。

　　作为前参议员和资深[屏蔽]家，费尔南德斯夫人的当选要归功于她丈夫不谋求连任的决定。从这个意义上说，她作为阿根廷第一位民选女总统似乎不完全是女权[屏蔽]的胜利。

　　得益于他的声望——自他2003年上任以来，经济已经增长了近50%，她顺利地赢得了10月份的选举。她打出的口号是“变化正在开始”。在[屏蔽]事务方面，这也许是真的。她已经暗示将比她有时候会采取高压手段的丈夫更尊重阿根廷的dem0cratic 制度。在基什内尔先生似乎喜欢采取对抗手段的地方，她则会力图寻求共识。

　　她最大的考验将是如何管理一个经历了2001-2002的金融崩溃并强劲复苏后已经出现了过热迹象的经济。