Argentina's Election Issues

Inflation

The government says inflation is running at between 8% and 10% but many economists say the figures have been manipulated and that the real rate is up to double that.

Consumers complain that the price of food, especially vegetables, has rocketed. A boycott of tomatoes was launched after prices surged to almost £3 a kilo, making them more expensive than meat and beyond the means of many of the poor.

Cristina Kirchner says inflation is under control but that alarmist talk could fuel price rises.

Energy

A collapse in the national grid and fuel supplies triggered a series of blackouts earlier this year, causing havoc in factories and homes and bringing traffic to a standstill.

An unusually cold winter was partly to blame but the main cause was the government controls on energy prices, which keep tariffs artificially low. The policy helped people survive the 2002 economic crisis but it crippled investment in energy infrastructure.

The problem will get worse unless prices rise, say economists, but that would be very unpopular.

Crime

Argentina used to pride itself on being one of South America's safest countries but since the 2002 crisis violent crime is perceived to have surged.

Three police officers were killed last week. Fear of muggings and burglaries has fueled a flight from cities to gated communities patrolled by armed guards. The more lavish communities, called "countries", are self-contained bubbles with their own shops, schools and polo clubs.

Foreign policy

Nestor Kirchner's loathing for diplomacy and foreign travel has frayed Argentina's international relations.

His successor will need to walk a tightrope between Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, an oil-rich benefactor who has bought billions of pounds of Argentinian debt, and a desire for improved relations with the US.

There is also the matter of the Falklands and the possibility of Britain drilling for oil in the southern Atlantic.