Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has spoken out against what she says is a campaign to proscribe her from running from office, declaring that her opponents want her either “imprisoned or dead.”
“They want me either imprisoned or dead,” she declared at a Peronist event in Corrientes Province on Saturday.
Fernández de Kirchner, who led Argentina from 2007 to 2015, is once again at the forefront of the nation’s politics. Last week, the veteran opposition leader announced she intends to run for a seat in the Buenos Aires Province Legislature in the upcoming September 7 elections.
However, the 72-year-old was convicted in 2022 of corruption offences and sentenced to six years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding political office. While her sentence has been approved in the second instance, Fernández de Kirchner has appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
The nation’s highest tribunal is yet to rule and could cancel or confirm her conviction, potentially blocking her from a run for office.
While the Supreme Court has no deadline to issue a ruling, reports have picked up in recent weeks that the justices on the nation’s highest tribunal are considering the case.
Fernández de Kirchner, speaking on Saturday, suggested that her declared candidacy for the provincial legislature could prompt the Supreme Court to act more swiftly and issue a ruling.
Speculation is increasing that the justices could issue a ruling before July 19, the deadline for the closing of party slates for the regional election. If her candidacy is approved by that date, in lieu of a ruling, she would be provided with immunity for the rest of the campaign.
The former president, who also served as vice-president from 2019 to 2023, intends to run for a seat in the densely populated third electoral district of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina’s most populous region that is traditionally a Peronist stronghold.
If she wins a seat in the provincial legislature, she will benefit from parliamentary immunity for the duration of her four-year term.
However, if the Court rejects her appeal, the sentence will take immediate effect. As she is over the age of 70, she may request to serve her sentence under house arrest.
A negative ruling for Fernández de Kirchner could prompt major action from unions and groups sympathetic to the former president.
Several labour leaders have indicated they will take to the streets in the wake of a negative ruling, including the UOM metalworkers' union, the ATE state-workers' association and APL legislative personnel group.
Speaking at a Peronist event last Saturday in the northeastern province of Corrientes, Fernández de Kirchner hinted that her arrest could be imminent.
“The announcement came out and the demons were unleashed, with calls coming from all sides to have me imprisoned. We mustn’t get angry, but we must be alert to the possibility of them locking me up,” she said.
“Editorials say I’m cornered and finished – if that’s the case, why don’t they compete with me and beat me at the ballot box? Look how I tremble,” she declared defiantly.
The Supreme Court could also approve a request from the trial’s chief prosecutor, who has appealed Fernández de Kirchner’s conviction in order to have her offence reclassified as a “criminal association,” which would increase her sentence to 12 years in prison.
“They may well imprison me. June is a terrible month for Peronism,” she said, referencing tragic events in Argentina’s history, such as the execution of Peronist activists during the military regime and the bombing of Plaza de Mayo during a failed coup attempt against Juan Perón in 1955.
“They’ve executed us, bombed us, tortured us, made us disappear; someone even pulled the trigger in my face because they want me either imprisoned or dead,” Fernández de Kirchner added, referring to the assassination attempt she survived on September 1, 2022 – a trial into the incident is still ongoing.
“What they’ll never be able to stop is the people, people who want better wages and to send their children to university,” said the Peronist leader in a speech that criticised the economic austerity measures imposed by President Javier Milei and his government.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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