Argentina's Peronists on the ropes after bruising midterm defeat

FILE PHOTO: Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez looks on during the session of the 138th legislative term at the National Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina March 1, 2020. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina's ruling Peronist party was reeling on Sunday after a midterm vote that saw its center-left coalition lose its majority in Congress for the first time in almost 40 years and taste defeat in its stronghold province of Buenos Aires.

The conservative opposition, which was badly defeated in a presidential election two years ago, won almost all the key races in the legislative ballot, as voters turned away from the government amid spiraling inflation and growing poverty.