Version imprimableDid Cristina Kirchner become rich during her term in office? Enormously. Did she do it illegally? Certainly. Argentina is a country where politicians are very corrupt, fill their pockets with public money. Does this exonerate Cristina Kirchner? Absolutely not.
A very political condemnation
But we have to understand the case in which she was convicted. This is the weakest case that the justice system has against the former president. A case launched under the right-wing government of Mauricio Macri, for embezzlement of funds in public works, for the benefit of business cronies. Nothing new under the sun. In Argentina, most public works are delayed or never completed, with or without corruption. Prices are often inflated. The accusations against Cristina Kirchner should, at the very least, also apply to all construction companies, to all executives — local, regional or national. For example, the father of another former president, Mauricio Macri, made his fortune in this way in the 1990s. And the evidence directly implicating the former president is weak. It is a trial which was triggered by her political opponents.
Clashes and a campaign against "proscription"
Immediately after the announcement, Peronism launched a campaign against the proscription and organized rallies. Some ended in clashes, and a news channel (known for an editorial line very hostile to Peronism) suffered damage. Peronism remains a very popular movement, capable of mobilizing poor workers to exert pressure. Its methods of mobilization are certainly clientelistic, and it has been largely absent from the struggles against the austerity imposed by Milei. But when it wants to mobilize, it knows how to do it.
The campaign against the proscription, however, was complex. Peronism is not alone in denouncing it. The Argentine far left also — with different nuances and tactical lines — denounced a very political trial, without supporting the ex-president or Peronism. Conversely, the Radical Party and other centrist forces have defended the judgment by insisting on the widely shared perception in the middle class: Cristina Kirchner is seen as a corrupt politician. And this despite the evidence of an Argentine justice system that is far from being independent.
The question for the Argentine far left is therefore the following: how can it not isolate itself from the popular strata that retain confidence in Kirchnerism, while opposing a political trial led by a cynical right and a corrupt judiciary? And how can we continue to fight corruption that neither begins nor ends with Kirchnerism?
17 June 2025
Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.
