海角大神

Sergio Massa marches down a corridor, casting aside his suit jacket and rolling up his shirtsleeves 鈥� as if preparing for a schoolyard tussle 鈥� before facing the camera: 鈥淚f they want to fight, we鈥檙e going to fight,鈥� he says.
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That鈥檚 the controversial TV spot Mr. Massa, who is running for a congressional seat in Argentina鈥檚 upcoming midterm elections, chose for his campaign. But he is not the only politician to adopt an aggressive tone against the Front for Victory, President Cristina Fern谩ndez de Kirchner鈥檚 ruling alliance.
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鈥淗er or you鈥� is lawmaker Francisco de Narv谩ez鈥檚 polarizing slogan. Meanwhile, the Front for Victory has implored voters to 鈥渃hoose love over hate鈥� in today鈥檚 open primaries 鈥� in effect a mass poll for the decisive midterms on Oct. 27. The results will determine Kirchner鈥檚 level of support after a turbulent year of mass protests and unpopular economic policies.
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The campaigns lay bare a widening fissure here between government supporters and critics that some warn could lead to long-term social and cultural divisions. 鈥淭he polarizing dynamic has become impossible to control,鈥� says Atilio Bor贸n, a political author and sociologist in Buenos Aires.

Argentina is divided today into kirchneristas 鈥� people who back the leftist policies of President Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, N茅stor Kirchner 鈥� and anti-kirchneristas. Very few occupy a middle ground.
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鈥淲hen interests clash, you鈥檙e forced to take sides,鈥� says kirchnerista Mariana Itzkovich at a recent rally to celebrate a decade of Kirchner rule. Echoing other populist governments in Latin America, Kirchner casts groups with 鈥渆conomic interests鈥� and 鈥渃orporations鈥� as enemies trying to topple her administration or halt its reforms.
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Another Front for Victory slogan written across campaign posters is 鈥渃hoose people and not corporations.鈥� Voters are seemingly presented with a simple choice of 鈥渨ith us or against us.鈥�

鈥淔omenting division suits Kirchner,鈥� says Carlos Germano, a political analyst here. 鈥淪he has a strong nucleus of support 鈥� around 30 percent of Argentines. But no opposing party or alliance has yet capitalized on the rest of the country, which remains split 鈥� though Massa is now establishing himself as the figure in Buenos Aires province.鈥�
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That is reflected in the lack of allegiances among government critics. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know who I鈥檒l vote for,鈥� says Amadeo Rodr铆guez at a small anti-Kirchner rally in Buenos Aires Thursday night. 鈥淎ll I know is it won鈥檛 be for Front for Victory candidates.鈥�
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The political polarization is reflected both socially and culturally: Mr. Rodr铆guez says he has friends in opposing camps who have become distant and knows families that have fractured. The media, meanwhile, is split between extreme pro- and anti-Kirchner coverage, the latter of which is led by the Clar铆n group.
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Collecting an award this week, Jorge Lanata, Clar铆n鈥檚 best-known journalist, warned that the 鈥渃rack鈥� in society will transcend the Kirchners. 鈥淭he social gap is going to be the hardest thing to mend,鈥� Mr. Lanata says. He adds that a similar division was present during the first government, from 1946 to 1952, of Juan Domingo Per贸n 鈥� one that lives on in today's Argentina.
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Like Kirchner, Per贸n 鈥� who was a hero of the working class 鈥� split the country into supporters and detractors, known as gorilas. Per贸n 鈥渄ivided Argentina into two irreconcilable subcultures,鈥� the editors of The New Cultural History of Peronism, wrote.

Some politicians, though, have now decided to attract voters through a call for unity.听鈥淲e've come to unite a country鈥澨齣s the slogan for congressional candidates of the Progressive Front.

听Kirchner lost control of Congress in the 2009 midterms, but Mr. Germano does not expect a repeat. 鈥淭he Front for Victory will keep its majority,鈥� he says. However, Kirchner is not expected to gain the seats necessary to push through long-rumored plans for constitutional reform and the subsequent lifting of presidential term limits.