In the wake of president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s announcement on Monday to expropriate oil giant YPF from Spain-controlled Repsol, officials from Latin American neighbouring countries have been divided over the landmark decision.

Several heads of state lauded Argentina for following in the lead of predecessors such as Russia, Venezuela and Ecuador, in its return to national sovereignty.

In a statement from Venezuela’s foreign ministry, reported by Página 12, president Hugo Chávez announced that he “welcomes and supports the decision announced by the government of Cristina Fernandez to nationalise Argentina’s main oil company,” and that “Venezuela highlights the validity of the doctrine of sovereign management of natural resources.”

Heads of state in Brazil and Uruguay offered similar sentiments.

Mexico, has landed on a decidedly harder line, empathising with Spain’s fury over the matter.

“Nobody in their right mind invests in countries that expropriate companies,” said president Felipe Calderón on Monday at the World Economic Forum. “I consider it very regrettable that the Argentine government, our friend Cristina Fernandez, has taken a decision that is in nobody’s interest.”

Bolivia, however, attempted to stay out of the conflict between Argentina and Spain. Depsite Bolivia’s own renationalisation in 2006, president Evo Morales appeared to be concerned about economic ties with the Spanish company.

“The YPF-Repsol issue is between Argentina and Spain, of Repsol as a company and Argentina,” he said during a press conference, reported by Merco Press. “It won’t cause any problem for us because we have a relation of great trust with Repsol.”

The announcement has divided officials in Argentina as per party line. Political movements such as Proyecto Sur, which have been campaigning for the move for years, are predictably scheduled to vote in favor of the power shift.

As reported by Página 12, despite kickback from opposing parties, kirchnerismo officials feel confident the vote will be passed. The ruling party said they have 33 “safe” votes in the Senate, out of the required 37-vote majority, despite resistance from UCR and Coalición Cívica.

Congress has already set the parliamentary debate in motion, and expect to have the measure approved by 3 May.

Pino Solanas Campaigning on calle Florida (courtesy of Solanas campaign)

Latest polls suggest Proyecto Sur will come in a distant third, and therefore be eliminated from a second round run-off. However, the party surprised everyone in the 2009 legislative elections when it finished second in the city of Buenos Aires. In an attempt to capture support from the left and beat Daniel Filmus to second place, one of Proyecto Sur’s campaign mottos is “spread the word, only Pino can beat [Mauricio] Macri.”

Camera Politics

Solanas studied theatre, music and law in Buenos Aires but first became famous as a film director. In the seventies he supported Juan Domingo Perón, which is evident in his award-winning feature “La Hora De Los Hornos,” a documentary that examines racism, social upheaval, massacres and the precarious political situation in Latin America, which could change thanks to a revolutionary rebellion by Peronists.

His artistic eye and political beliefs have repeatedly converged: in 2008 he directed “La Próxima Estación,” a documentary about Argentina’s decaying railway network. A year earlier, he directed “Argentina Latente,” a film that shows how Argentina does not take advantage of its potential, and in 2009 “Oro Impuro” referred to the country’s mining problems.

His political career took off in dramatic circumstances on May 21, 1991, the day after publicly criticizing and accusing the then president Carlos Saul Menem of corruption. Unknown individuals shot Solanas three times in the legs. “The people of Argentina are not going to keep silence or stay. We are not going to kneel down no matter how many threats or attacks we receive from the mafia that is robbing the country,” proclaimed Solanas, while still lying on stretcher.

Solanas’ political career has been intermittent, although he has never stopped being a leftist activist. He was a congressman from 1993 to 1997, after which he did not try to be elected again, saying: “I sadly retire from the congress because I do not see any serious attempt to end corruption.” Ten years later, in 2007, he ran for president with his new party and came in fifth place.

2009 was Pino Solanas’s best political year. Proyecto Sur finished second in the capital in the mid-term legislative elections, behind Macri’s PRO party but above the Kirchnerist candidate. The results of the elections were a surprise— Proyecto Sur had never captured such a high percentage of vote (24%). Some believe that it was thanks to a debate on the TN television show “A Dos Voces”, where Solanas asked sharp questions to all main opponents. Months before the debate, the kirchnerist candidate, Carlos Heller, was second according to the polls, but his party came in fourth.

A Third Option

“The porteño suffers the abuse of two administrations,” complained Solanas during an open interview in June at the Universidad de Palermo. The candidate said that these abuses are the consequence of Macri’s inefficiency and the ignorance of the national Govervment towards issues such as security and inflation.

Among the political promises of Pino Solanas are the plans to build more schools, houses, and hospitals, especially in the south of the capital. He also pledges to apply a law of public development of medications, which Macri vetoed, and the creation of a university of the city.

Solanas originally said he would again run for president in 2011 but decided to step down, perhaps because polls showed Cristina Kirchner with a formidable lead. Now he has focused his attention on being the next mayor of Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

However, recent polls have shown that his opponents, Filmus and Macri, are above Solanas by a long margin, despite his supposed strong support base in the capital. The reason of this lead could be that both candidates have not only the support of parties in office, but they also started their mayoral campaigns long before Solanas.