Voters ‘don’t know who to back’

With a week to go until Argentina votes in presidential elections, one of the nation’s most influential Catholic figures has said she is worried the “wrong” person will become president.

Martha Pelloni, a Carmelite nun and human rights campaigner, said Argentines were blinded by the corruption endemic in politics. “We don’t know who to vote for because we see institutional corruption in every part of the country,” she said on a popular Argentine chat show last weekend. “I’m afraid we’re going to get it wrong,” she said, implying that the victor might not be the candidate best placed to address the country’s problems.

Earlier this month the Argentine bishops warned the main political parties against practices which would undermine democracy in the run-up to the elections. “Sadly we have witnessed a climate of grievance, suspicion and accusation which weakens the credibility of people and institutions,” said a statement from the Bishops’ Conference.

According to La Nación newspaper the bishops made their statement after August elections to find a governor of Tucumán province were annulled amid allegations of fraud. “A democracy without values and without any admirable features is impoverished,” said the bishops. The election will end 12 years of presidencies by the Kirchner family.