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On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina upheld the corruption conviction against former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which halts her candidacy for deputy in the elections and, in addition, enables her detention, reported La Nación.
The ruling caused a political earthquake in the South American country, as it is the last instance that the former president, current president of the Justicialist Party (PJ, Peronist electoral label) had to invalidate the trial in which she was convicted.
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Furthermore, it modifies this year's political scenario, as Fernández de Kirchner had confirmed that she would participate as a candidate for deputy in the elections of the province of Buenos Aires, which will be held on September 7th. However, she will not be able to run, something that **had never happened in Argentine politics.** Fernández de Kirchner is thus excluded from any electoral competition, and will not be able to hold public office for life. Due to her age, 72 years old, the two-time president, re-elected in 2011 with 54% of the votes, may request house arrest. The ruling was celebrated immediately by President Javier Milei, who issued a brief message from his X social media account: "Justice. End". He also left a postscript with an explicit attack against the press: "The Republic works and all the corrupt journalist$, accomplices of lying politician$, have been exposed in their operetta$ (operations) about the supposed pact of impunity". The Court's decision was anticipated by multiple anti-Kirchnerist communicators who denigrate the former president and Peronism in general. The day before, Fernández de Kirchner considered that the sole purpose of the judicial processes against her, and this one in particular, was to proscribe her.On Monday night, former President spoke at a PJ event that primarily focused on repudiating the ruling that the anti-Peronist media had already anticipated, and that the ruling party eagerly awaited. "This model is unviable," she declared, analyzing the policies implemented by Javier Milei's government. And she continued: "They think they're going to solve it by putting me in jail. I will be in jail, but the people will be worse every day", she predicted.
In her speech, the opposition leader called on citizens to mobilize against the Court's decision, which she defined as "the praetorian guard of economic power." "It was enough that we announced a candidacy a week ago for the demons to be unleashed," he pointed out.The Trial
In December 2022, the then-vice president was sentenced to six years in prison and permanent disqualification from holding public office, at the end of a trial that lasted three and a half years. The process was surrounded by scandals and accusations of alleged bias. It was the end of the so-called 'Causa Vialidad' case, which began in 2016 with an audit carried out by the National Road Directorate during the government of Mauricio Macri. The file investigated the 51 public works contracts obtained by businessman Lázaro Báez in the province of Santa Cruz. The court found the former president guilty of the crime of "fraudulent administration to the detriment of public administration" for having headed a corruption chain in which other officials collaborated, and which benefited Báez, who enriched himself during the Kirchnerist governments. But there were serious problems during the process, as photos were revealed in which prosecutor Diego Luciani, who made the accusatory argument against the former president, and judge Rodrigo Giménez de Uriburu (member of the court that was judging her), played soccer together on the fields of the country house of former president Mauricio Macri, the main adversary of Fernández de Kirchner. Then, chats were leaked in which judges, officials, and media entrepreneurs manipulated the evidence of a luxurious trip they had taken together to Patagonia, with all expenses paid by Grupo Clarín (the most important multimedia group in the country and a staunch critic of Kirchnerism). The scandal, which unleashed accusations of alleged judicial corruption, had no consequences. One of the travelers was Judge Julián Ercolini, the investigator in the case against Fernández de Kirchner, that is, the one who gathered the alleged evidence and considered it sufficient for the investigation to go to oral and public trial. Despite these anomalies, the trial went ahead and concluded with a guilty verdict on charges that Fernández de Kirchner always denied. On the morning of this Tuesday, Gregorio Dalbón, one of Cristina Fernández's lawyers, announced from his social media that he has filed a complaint in the international courts of The Hague against the questioned ruling of the highest court."We carry the voice of millions who no longer find justice in their own country. We denounce the systematic persecution —political, judicial, media, and institutional— against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, twice president and current political leader of Argentina", he stated.
