Fernández de Kirchner calls on supporters to organise amid threat of arrest

Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Monday urged her supporters to organise in the face of her possible arrest, which she attributed to a campaign of judicial persecution designed to bar her from running for office.

The two-term ex-president (2007–2011 and 2011–2015) and former vice-president (2019–2023) has been sentenced to six years in prison and banned from holding public office in the ‘Vialidad’ corruption case.

However, she has not been jailed, as the Supreme Court is still to rule on a legal appeal filed by her legal team.

Amid speculation that the nation’s highest tribunal could rule against her at any moment, hundreds of Peronist militants gathered outside the headquarters of the Justicialist Party (PJ), Argentina’s main opposition force, on Monday to hear from Fernández de Kirchner.

Leaders of her movement have said they are “on alert” ahead of an adverse decision.

“From the most grassroots militant to the most senior leader, everyone has a huge responsibility: to organise,” Fernández de Kirchner told party figures at the rally, speaking in her role as chair of the national PJ.

“It doesn’t matter who’s first – what matters is building unity that can secure victory,” she declared.

Fernández de Kirchner, 72, announced last week that she would run for a seat in Congress representing Buenos Aires Province’s Third Electoral District, the most populous in the country and a traditional Peronist stronghold. If she wins a seat in the September 7 elections, she would enjoy immunity for the duration of her four-year term.

However, if the Supreme Court rejects her appeal, Fernández de Kirchner would be barred from running. She would not go to jail – given her age, she would be entitled to request house arrest.

Fernández de Kirchner suggested in her speech on Monday that the Supreme Court may fast-track its ruling in order to block her candidacy and prevent her from gaining legal protections.

She branded Argentina’s highest court a “praetorian guard of economic power.”

Criticising President Javier Milei’s right-wing government, she added: “While those who carried out mega debt swaps and buried the country in debt can walk the streets unscathed, being imprisoned is a certificate of dignity.”

‘To the streets’

Hundreds rallied in support of the former president outside PJ headquarters, waving political and union flags and chanting slogans. "Si la tocan a Cristina, qué quilombo [lío] se va a armar," (“If they touch Cristina, there’ll be hell to pay”) sang the crowd.

“I came to back Cristina, because what they’re doing to her – this attempt to ban her – is an attack on democracy,” said 26-year-old Peronist militant Malena Ortiz.

Fernández de Kirchner rose to prominence as part of a political power couple with her late husband Néstor Kirchner, who preceded her as president between 2003 and 2007.

After two terms at the helm, she served as vice-president in the last government before Milei took office.

Milei campaigned as a cost-cutting, anti-establishment antidote to Fernández de Kirchner's Peronist movement, accused of widespread corruption and economic mismanagement. During his government, she has been a staunch opponent of Milei's policies of deregulation and slashing public spending.

After delivering her main speech inside PJ headquarters, Fernández de Kirchner stepped onto the pavement to address the crowd, lashing out at Milei’s model.

“Do they really think they’re going to fix anything by putting me in prison? Go ahead, lock me up. Will that raise Argentines’ wages? Will it mean they start funding schools and hospitals? Will they be able to repay the dollar-denominated debt they owe to the IMF and bondholders?” she said.

Fernández de Kirchner argued that the current model “will run out of steam” and that her possible detention is aimed at ensuring “that when all this collapses after the [October] midterms, there’s no organised alternative left in the country.”

“We need to challenge ourselves as national and popular militants,” she said in a tone of self-criticism. “We need a lot of militancy, a lot of work, a lot of organisation and a lot of solidarity.”

At the same time Fernández de Kirchner was speaking, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich – the former PRO leader now aligned with Milei’s La Libertad Avanza – granted an interview to the LN+ television channel, in which she rejected claims of political persecution.

“There’s no proscription” against Fernández de Kirchner, she said. “There’s a legal process that’s been ongoing for 17 years.”

The Supreme Court ruling could prompt wider unrest. Public sector, automotive and metalworkers’ unions have warned they will launch take strike action if a ruling against Fernández de Kirchner is confirmed by the justices.

“They can’t just sideline the most important opposition leader,” retired teacher Marcela Correia said as she stood outside PJ headquarters. “If they do, I think the whole country will take to the streets.”

– TIMES/AFP