Argentines look for new leaders

In the eyes of many Argentines, the country's politicians have quite simply run out of answers.

The arrest Wednesday of the country's former economy minister, Domingo Cavallo, is the latest example of a fundamental shift underway here.

Argentina, in the midst of perhaps its worst financial crisis, has abruptly turned against its political class. Instead, the population is looking for leadership elsewhere, and in some unexpected quarters: the business community, the sports arena, and the church.

"People are already searching out those who do not come from a traditional political background," says Martín Redrado, a senior economic strategist. "They're looking for fresh faces and fresh ideas."

Once hailed as Argentina's brightest economic mind, Mr. Cavallo resigned in December after his budget-cutting policies failed to lift Argentina from an economic morass. In one tumultuous two-week period, Argentines saw five successive presidents sworn into office. The latest, Eduardo Duhalde, has struggled to find solutions to Argentina's economic and social chaos.

Now a much-hated figure, Cavallo has been forced to live with police protection since December. He is already banned from leaving the country in a case relating to charges of dereliction of duty for ordering Argentina's banks to freeze some $20 billion held as deposits.

Cavallo is now being investigated for alleged involvement in the illegal shipment of weapons to Croatia and Ecuador in the 1990s.

His detention adds new fuel to a public sentiment of distrust.

"All my adult life, I've seen the same faces in political posts, the same provincial governors, the same congressmen," says a Buenos Aires-based businessman, who asked to remain anonymous. "People are sick of the sight of them. We want them all to go."

Argentines are actively looking elsewhere for leadership, and Mauricio Macri is high on an emerging list of new political lights.

Mr. Macri, a wealthy businessman and president of Boca Juniors, Argentina's most fanatically supported soccer team, has made little secret of his political ambitions. He has established a think tank, hired political analysts, and even taken voice-coaching lessons in order to improve his oral delivery. "Any incoming government would be well advised to knock on his door," says a senior Western diplomat.

Critics say that his family's wealth, which originated from government contracts and privatization proceeds, will undermine any future presidential campaign. "He is certainly representative of Argentina's new entrepreneurial class, but an immense number of people see him as part of the problem, not part of the solution," says Enrique Zuleta Puceiro, a political analyst and director of IBOPE, a polling firm.

So far, Macri is the only outsider viewed by political analysts as a serious presidential contender. But there are other possibilities.

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