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Politics and Legal System

Argentina’s political framework is very similar to that of the US, consisting of a federal system with Legislative, Executive and Judiciary branches. The legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress consisting of a 72-seat Senate elected by direct vote and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies elected by direct vote. The executive power resides with the President and his Cabinet. The President and Vice President are directly elected to four-year terms, limited to two consecutive terms and the cabinet ministers are appointed by the President. The judicial power rests with the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice, which has seven members who are appointed by the President with Senate approval. The current President (2008) is Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the wife of former President Nestor Kirchner and the first wife in history to be elected to succeed her husband as a President.

Argentina was the only Latin American country to participate in the 1991 Gulf War under mandate of the United Nations and the only Latin American country involved in every phase of the Haiti operation. It has contributed worldwide to peacekeeping operations, including in El Salvador-Honduras-Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador-Peru, Western Sahara, Angola, Kuwait, Cyprus, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Timor Leste. In recognition of its contributions to international security, U.S. President Bill Clinton designated Argentina as a major non-NATO ally in January 1998. In 2005, it was elected as a temporary member of the UN Security Council. Argentina enjoys a close bilateral relationship with the U.S. and the countries often vote together in the UN.