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Argentina's Macri Chooses Moderate Running Mate in Move to Broaden Base

Reuters

   BUENOS AIRES - Moderate Argentine Senator Miguel Pichetto will run as
   vice presidential candidate with President Mauricio Macri in October's
   election, the two politicians said on Tuesday, a selection that could
   help broaden the struggling leader's voter base.

   In a series of tweets, Macri, a center-right former businessman whose
   popularity has been hit by a flagging economy and high inflation,
   called the October election an opportunity to "consolidate democracy"
   and laid out a series of goals such as defending human rights and
   combating crime.

   "For all of this, we'll need to build agreements with a lot of
   generosity and patriotism, which all Argentines who share these values
   can support," Macri wrote.

   Pichetto, who currently serves as president of Argentina's Senate, is
   an adherent of Peronism, an ideologically diverse political movement in
   Argentina. Considered a moderate, he supported the administration of
   leftist former president and current vice-presidential candidate
   Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during her 2007-2015 administration.

   He then moved to the center and was a key player in allowing Macri, who
   took power in 2015, to seal a final deal with holders of Argentine
   sovereign bonds, which was key to loosening up access to international
   financial markets.

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