Supporters of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner are gathering in central Buenos Aires to protest her six-year sentence for corruption and lifetime ban on holding public office.
Under the banner ‘Argentina with Cristina,’ the march was called by Fernández de Kirchner’s Peronist movement and is set to begin at 2pm in Plaza de Mayo, outside the Casa Rosada presidential palace.
Political parties, trade unions and social organisations are taking part, travelling to the capital with delegations arriving from across the country.
Police have set up checkpoints on roads leading to Buenos Aires and are carrying out searches of cars and buses without court orders. Union and political leaders have accused the authorities of trying to suppress turnout.
On Tuesday, President Javier Milei’s government issued new statutes for the federal police that allows them to search citizens without a warrant if certain circumstances apply.
“The protest is to support Cristina and demand her freedom,” Unión por la Patria Senator Eduardo ‘Wado’ de Pedro posted on the X social network.
Fernández de Kirchner, who served two terms as president and one as vice-president, was convicted of fraudulent administration in public works contracts in her native Santa Cruz Province.
Her sentence was upheld last week by the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a tribunal granted her house arrest and excused her from appearing in court, which prevented a separate mobilisation of supporters outside the Comodoro Py federal courthouse.
Despite that, a broader protest is going ahead Wednesday, with opposition leaders calling the conviction an act of political persecution.
Union leader Daniel Catalano said buses carrying protesters from cities like Bahía Blanca, Córdoba and Mendoza were stopped up to seven times on the way.
“It’s becoming impossible. I don’t know what the Border Guards are looking for. This is harassment that makes no sense,” he told El Destape radio.
“Rule of law? Sure, thanks,” he added sarcastically.
At Constitución train station in Buenos Aires, officers blocked entry to passengers carrying signs or political symbols, demanding those passing show their national identification cards.
The new decree, signed 24 hours earlier, allows police to detain people for up to 10 hours without judicial authorisation.
Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos defended the measures. “There’ll be security controls to avoid any attempt at violence. Asking for ID is part of street policing,” he told Radio Mitre.
Human rights group CORREPI warned the protocol marks a “destruction of democratic freedoms.”
– TIMES/AFP
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