Fernandez had sought to neutralize the Buenos Aires cardinal’s political influence for so long that she and her allies suddenly found themselves out of step with the joy most Argentines have shown at seeing one of their own running the Vatican.
For years, they had labeled him “chief of the opposition” and “accomplice of the dictatorship.” Supporters of the president reportedly even tried lobbying other cardinals to turn against Bergoglio when choosing a new pontiff.
But that was before he became Francis. Now he’s suddenly the pope who shares the same commitment to the poor and dream of a “Patria Grande” (Grand Homeland) that the populist leaders of Latin America have been pursuing. Fernandez announced this herself, after a private lunch at the Vatican with her former foe that had Argentines glued to their TV sets, marveling over the sudden change. “The president made the simple calculation that this confrontation was totally a losing proposition,” and so the government decided to try to co-opt the Argentines’ fervor for their pope, political analyst Claudio Fantini said.
In Argentina’s polarized political universe, which treats everyone as either a friend or enemy of the president, Fantini called this a “Copernican shift,” as if everyone suddenly learned the true center of the solar system.
And Francisco, whose sharp political skills have long been apparent to Argentines, responded with his own highly symbolic gestures.
He invited Fernandez to share his first official audience as pope and then ended speculation in Argentina that he might visit home before October’s congressional elections, which could determine whether she will have enough votes to undo constitutional term limits and keep ruling beyond 2015. The president’s opponents had hoped he would come in July or September, and perhaps push votes their way.
These and other gestures by Francis, 76, sent a signal that when it comes to the populist governments of Latin America, he’ll avoid the kinds of direct confrontations that feed divisive politics, and instead will seek to co-opt them as well, joining forces to help the poorest benefit from society. “Bergoglio is a conservative, but his church career has always been directed toward doing things for the poor,” said Fantini.
At first, Fernandez seemed stunned by the election of Bergoglio, the man whose opposition to gay marriage and adoption she had compared to the Inquisition. On these and other social issues, from providing free contraception to enabling transsexuals to change their official identities on demand to rewriting divorce laws, she had enough votes in congress to ignore his complaints. His frequent homilies urging Argentina’s leaders stamp out corruption and fix societal ills were an annoyance, but not a threat to her political power.