Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is considering moving the capital city from Buenos Aires to Santiago del Estero.
“We should start rethinking where to place our federal capital, perhaps more in the center of the country — and even here, in Santiago del Estero, the Mother of Argentine Cities,” Ms. Kirchner said while visiting the country’s oldest town on Tuesday.
“Sometimes we should start thinking of a new territorial design, because the world has changed,” she added.
Many people consider the announcement a political stunt to steal the idea from Julián Domínguez, the leader of the lower house of Congress, who has been running on such a move as part of his presidential-campaign platform, the British newspaper The Independent reported Saturday.
Argentinians living in the country’s provinces hold some animosity towards the current capital because of its European roots and argue that a capital located in the heart of the country would better represent Argentina, which draws most of its economic wealth from agricultural provinces.
Others have criticized Ms. Kirchner for the idea because of growing economic problems in Argentina. Last month Argentina defaulted on its debt and there have been strikes across the country.
“So, there’s no money to avoid default, but there is for a Pharaonic transfer of the capital,” economist Jose Luis Espert tweeted.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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