Subtlety takes a holiday from Argentina’s politics

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Noticias, the leading Argentine news-weekly, regularly assails Argentine President Nestor Kirchner as a bullying populist who tolerates little opposition to his way of doing things

But, for its cover story this week on Kirchner’s governing style, Noticias chose an unusual illustration: two giraffes in the act of mating.

The inspiration, Noticias explained in an editor’s note, was a celebrated 1994 edition of the British weekly The Economist. Beneath the headline, ``The trouble with mergers,’’ that Economist cover featured an illustration of two camels in a similar predicament.

``Discarding photos of lions, turtles and penguins, Noticias opted for the stylized image of the male giraffe on top of the female giraffe, which reflects with such brutality and beauty our chief of state’s way of relating,’’ the magazine explained. ``And that of those who opt to submit themselves, out of pleasure or necessity.’’

Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires