FACTBOX: Policies of Argentine presidential candidates

(Reuters) - Argentines elect a new president on Sunday. Here are the main policies of the top three contenders, who are all center-left.

CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER:

The first lady and long-time senator is expected to win and continue the policies of her husband, President Nestor Kirchner, who has overseen a huge economic rebound following a deep crisis in 2001-02.

ECONOMY - Fernandez will likely continue Kirchner's policies of pursuing budget and trade surpluses, price controls to tame inflation, a weak peso and strong foreign reserves. She has asked business leaders, who were largely shunned by Kirchner, to build a social pact with the government and unions, which analysts believe means that companies would accept smaller profit margins while unions would cap wage demands.

FOREIGN POLICY - Fernandez has traveled widely and is expected to run a more active foreign policy than Kirchner. In international trade talks she will fight for reduced agricultural subsidies in rich nations. She is close to Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the United States, but is expected to maintain good relations with Washington.

DEMOCRACY - She has promised to strengthen Argentina's weak democratic institutions: Congress, courts and regulatory agencies.

HUMAN RIGHTS - Fernandez is expected to continue to promote trials of human rights abusers from Argentina's 1976-1983 military regime.

ELISA CARRIO:

The former lawmaker and anti-corruption crusader has made transparency in government central to her campaign.

ECONOMY - Carrio would clean up the statistics agency that has been accused of manipulating key economic data, keep the peso as weak as possible without stoking inflation, give the central bank more autonomy, and cut export taxes on commodities.

FOREIGN POLICY - She would cool relations with Venezuela's Chavez and improve ties with Uruguay, hurt by a long-running controversy over a pulp mill near the Argentine border.

COURTS - She promises to guarantee independent courts and make sure judges are selected on merit.

ENERGY - Carrio wants to diversify energy sources so that 30 percent of Argentina's energy consumption comes from non-fossil fuel sources by 2020. She also proposes exporting natural gas and oil only after domestic demands have been covered.

CRIME - She plans to fight drug use and reform the police forces.

ROBERTO LAVAGNA

The former economy minister has made fighting crime and poverty and creating jobs his central campaign themes.

ECONOMY - Lavagna would dismantle price controls, which he says aggravate inflation. He would seek a high budget surplus to keep the dollar strong against the peso, keep down interest rates and cut public debt. He also plans tax breaks for small- and mid-sized businesses, which employ most Argentines.

FOREIGN POLICY - He says Kirchner's friendship with Venezuela's Chavez is a big mistake and would prioritize relations with nearer neighbors in the Mercosur trading bloc.

POVERTY - Lavagna pledges to get rid of extreme poverty within four years, and proposes investing 2.5 percent of gross domestic product per year to build 1.6 million homes to reduce the housing shortage.

CRIME - He plans to invest in crime prevention through poverty reduction projects while increasing the police presence in high-crime areas and creating a registry of sexual offenders.

ENERGY - He would prioritize work on power projects: increasing capacity at a major dam, building two thermoelectric plants and expanding natural gas pipelines.

(For more on Argentina's presidential election, click on www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/argentina)