Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who once served as Argentina’s president and is a highly controversial political personality, received a prison sentence on Tuesday. The Supreme Court confirmed her corruption conviction, which includes a lifetime ban from holding public office.
This decision is expected to escalate political tensions in Argentina, especially following Mrs. Kirchner’s recent declaration to return to politics, despite surviving an assassination attempt three years ago.
Prior to the court’s ruling, supporters of Mrs. Kirchner obstructed major roadways around Buenos Aires, protesting against the leftist former president, who has had ongoing disputes with Argentina’s right-wing leader, Javier Milei. Key labor unions are also threatening national strikes.
The Supreme Court issued a 27-page decision denying Mrs. Kirchner’s appeal and upholding a six-year sentence from a lower court, ruling that she had defrauded the government during her presidency from 2007 to 2015.
However, given her age of 72, it’s likely that Mrs. Kirchner won’t spend much time in prison, as Argentine laws often permit house arrest for individuals over 70. The lower court has given her five business days to report for detention while also requesting the security minister to find a suitable place for her confinement.
According to constitutional law expert Andrés Gil Domínguez, Mrs. Kirchner may only be in detention briefly until a judge approves her house arrest.
Speaking to her supporters outside her party’s headquarters shortly after the court’s decision, Mrs. Kirchner remarked, “The Argentina we are experiencing today keeps surprising us.” She criticized the Supreme Court members as “puppets” and labeled them a “triumvirate of disgraceful figures” serving powerful economic interests, asserting they were undermining the public’s choice.
On the other hand, Mr. Milei expressed the word “Justice” on X (formerly Twitter) and shared various posts celebrating the Supreme Court’s ruling.
With over thirty years in Argentine politics, Mrs. Kirchner continues to be a contentious figure. While many view her presidency as linked to economic failure and corruption, she retains a dedicated following that appreciates her social programs.
Mrs. Kirchner, who held the vice presidency from 2019 to 2023, has faced numerous corruption allegations. In 2022, she was convicted of directing public roadwork contracts to a family friend and business associate.
She has labeled these accusations as politically driven, claiming her rivals are using the justice system to diminish her power.
The court found that the corruption scheme began under her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, and persisted throughout her presidential terms. Mr. Kirchner, who served as a governor and president, passed away in 2010.
Since 2024, she has been at the helm of the Justicialist Party, the primary opposition against Mr. Milei and the leading political force behind Peronism, which significantly influences Argentina’s political landscape.
Mr. Milei regularly holds Mrs. Kirchner and her late husband accountable for years of economic decline and widespread corruption that led the nation into a deep financial crisis. He won the presidency in 2023 by promising to reduce public spending and reform the state-heavy economy.
Recently, Mrs. Kirchner announced her candidacy for a seat in the Buenos Aires provincial legislature in the upcoming elections, where she was expected to be a strong contender. A win would grant her immunity from the sentence.
“Coincidence is not a political category,” she expressed to her supporters on Monday, right before the Supreme Court’s announcement. “Just a week after we declared my candidacy, the demons were unleashed.”
She views attempts to imprison her as an effort to silence her opposition to Mr. Milei’s right-wing economic strategies, which involve substantial austerity.
“Feel free to throw me in prison,” she said on Monday. “Do you genuinely think this will resolve anything? I could be behind bars, but the people will suffer even more.”
During Mrs. Kirchner’s 2022 trial, her supporters gathered daily outside her apartment in Buenos Aires to show their solidarity.
In September of that year, a man pointed a loaded gun at her face at close range but the weapon misfired, leaving her unharmed. The suspected gunman, along with two accomplices, is currently detained and awaiting trial.
Aside from this case, the former president faces various other legal challenges, which include charges of money laundering, orchestrating a public works corruption scheme, and allegedly conspiring with Iran to conceal its possible involvement in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that resulted in 85 fatalities.
