Tens of thousands took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Wednesday in support of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a day after she began serving a six-year sentence for fraud under house arrest.
Large crowds gathered at the iconic Plaza de Mayo square and spilled into surrounding streets for a demonstration called by the Partido Justicialista (PJ), the main Peronist political party of which Fernández de Kirchner serves as national chair.
Under the slogan "Argentina with Cristina," protesters sang and beat drums, waving national flags and banners with messages such as "The motherland is not for sale."
A spokesperson for Fernández de Kirchner’s press team told the AFP news agency they estimated “more than half a million” people were present though government estimates were significantly lower.
"We came because it's an attack on democracy to outlaw someone like Cristina who the people want to vote for," said Rocio Gavino, a 29-year-old state worker.
Fernández de Kirchner’s backers have been holding a vigil outside her home in the Constitution neighbourhood of Buenos Aires since the Supreme Court last week upheld her conviction and sentence for "fraudulent administration" while president, along with a lifelong ban on her holding public office.
On Tuesday, a court ruled she could serve her six-year sentence at home, though she will be required to wear an electronic bracelet.
She will be allowed limited visits, principally from family members, lawyers and doctors.
“We’re here because the national government, together with the Judiciary, decided to ban Cristina from standing in the elections,” said Federico Mochi, a Peronist activist marching in Buenos Aires carrying a large flag bearing the faces of Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Evita.
Juan Peracibe, a 70-year-old retiree who travelled 350 kilometres to attend the rally, said the sentence had reawakened the Peronist movement. “I think what they’ve done is wake the lion,” he said.
In 2022, Fernández de Kirchner's conviction sparked demonstrations in several cities, some of which ended in clashes with police. It also coincided with a failed assassination attempt. An attacker attempted to fire a weapon at her head at point-blank range, though the gun misfired.
Fernández de Kirchner and her backers claim the judicial case was a plot to end her career and unravel her legacy of protectionist economics and social programmes.
She rose to prominence as part of a political power couple with her late husband Néstor Kirchner, who preceded her as president.
After two terms at the helm herself between 2007 and 2015, she served as vice-president from 2019 to 2023 in the last Peronist administration before the presidency of libertarian Javier Milei, of whose austerity policies she has been a vocal critic.
According to Lara Goyburu, a political scientist at the University of Buenos Aires, the rally was largely limited to Fernández de Kirchner’s Peronist base, in contrast to broader protests against Milei’s government.
“Today’s march shows the Peronist movement still has some street mobilisation capacity. What we don’t see in this protest is the broad-based participation we saw in others, like the university march,” she said.
Still, leftist parties joined the rally with their own columns – a rare gesture of support for a Peronist leader.
– TIMES/AFP
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