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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ex-Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner given house arrest
A federal court in Argentina has granted former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner house arrest to serve her six-year sentence for corruption charges. On Tuesday, the court decided that the 72-year-old Fernandez's age and visibility as a political figure made house arrest a reasonable option for her confinement. Just three years ago, in 2022, the popular left-wing leader faced an assassination attempt, wherein an assailant aimed a pistol at her head. The court cited such dangers in its decision, saying Fernandez's safety 'would become complex in a situation of prison confinement in coexistence with any type of prison population'. It is not uncommon for courts in Argentina to permit house arrest for individuals of advanced age as well. The former president's house arrest must begin immediately, the court ruled. It also explained that she would be subject to electronic monitoring. She will serve out her sentence at her apartment in Buenos Aires that she shares with her daughter and granddaughter. Fernandez, the court said, 'must remain at the registered address, an obligation that she may not break except in exceptional situations'. Any future visitors to the apartment — outside of household staff, healthcare workers and other approved individuals — will have to be vetted by the court. The former president's incarceration comes after Argentina's Supreme Court last week upheld her conviction and barred her from running for public office ever again. She was found guilty in 2022 of using public works projects, including roadways, to give beneficial contracts to a close associate of her family, Lazaro Baez. Prosecutors said the contracts awarded to Baez had rates 20 percent higher than normal — a sum that could translate to millions of dollars. Other scandals have dogged her political career, including accusations of bribery and money laundering. Some of those cases continue to be weighed by Argentina's judicial system. But Fernandez has dismissed the allegations against her as political attacks. She had been preparing to launch a bid in this year's legislative elections, until the ban on her candidacy. Fernandez served as Argentina's president from 2007 to 2015, after succeeding her husband, the late Nestor Kirchner. In 2019, four years after she left the Casa Rosada — the 'Pink House' of the presidency — Fernandez returned to the executive branch as vice president to Alberto Fernandez, another left-wing politician. Both Fernandez and Alberto Fernandez — who share no familial relation — faced sharp criticism for their management of Argentina's economy, including their heavy reliance on government spending and their devaluation of the country's peso through the printing of excess currency. But particularly among working-class Argentinians, Fernandez continues to enjoy substantial popularity, particularly for her investments in social programmes to alleviate poverty. Since 2024, Fernandez has led the Justicialist Party, the main pillar of opposition against the government of current President Javier Milei, a libertarian. He took office in 2023, succeeding Alberto Fernandez. Faced with Fernandez's incarceration, supporters of the former president took to the streets in Buenos Aires to protest over the past week, calling her lifetime ban from public office an act of political retribution.
New Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Cristina Kirchner: divisive left-winger tainted by fraud
DURING two decades at the forefront of Argentine politics, Cristina Kirchner inspired love and loathing in equal measure, but rarely indifference. She has made several comebacks over the years – even escaping unscathed from an assassination attempt – but may now have come to the end of her political tether. On Tuesday, the country's Supreme Court upheld Kirchner's six-year prison sentence for a graft conviction and confirmed a lifetime ban on her holding public office. The 72-year-old has five days to present herself to authorities for arrangements to be made for serving her sentence. Kirchner was born in 1953 in the small town of Tolosa, just outside the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The daughter of a bus driver and a housewife, she often played up her lower middle-class roots, though she could never hide her love of luxury brands and travel. She first came to prominence as one half of the ultimate political power couple with husband Nestor. The pair met at university when they were both law students passionate about Peronism – a leftist ideology based on the legacy of former ruler Juan Peron. Nestor Kirchner became president in 2003, serving one term, before Cristina was elected in 2007. They expected to continue their term-for-term tango, but he died of a heart attack in 2010. Together, the couple served a collective 12 years in the Casa Rosada, the pink presidential palace, with Cristina exiting the top office for the last time in 2015. She later served as vice-president to her former chief of staff Alberto Fernandez. To their working-class base, the Kirchners were saviours after Argentina's 2001 economic meltdown and the social unrest that followed the largest debt default in history. They were seen as standing up for the little guy against bullies both foreign and domestic. Addressing supporters outside her party headquarters after the Supreme Court ruling, she depicted her tenure as a golden era, when Argentine workers "had the highest salaries in Latin America and pensioners had the highest pensions." Her two terms, during a commodities boom, were characterised by protectionist trade policies and major investments in social programs and subsidies, which caused public spending to spiral. Under her stewardship Argentina became a regional bastion of LGBTQ rights, allowing gay marriage in 2010 and passing a gender identity law in 2012. For her detractors, however, Kirchner is a corrupt, overbearing interventionist who steered the country toward economic ruin and rampant inflation with her debt-fuelled spending sprees. One of her major critics is incumbent President Javier Milei, whose budget-slashing austerity policies Kirchner has in turn slammed as inhumane. In December 2022, Kirchner was found guilty of fraudulently awarding public works contracts during her time as president in her southern Patagonian stronghold of Santa Cruz. Just months earlier, at a pro-Kirchner demonstration, a man pointed a revolver in Kirchner's face and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. On Tuesday, after Argentina's Supreme Court upheld Kirchner's conviction on appeal, and confirmed a six-year prison sentence that she may ask to convert to house arrest given her age. Kirchner has been defiant throughout, accusing the justice system of persecuting Peronism. Just a week ago, she announced she would seek election to the government of Buenos Aires province in September elections. A win would have given her immunity for the duration of her term.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cristina Kirchner: divisive left-winger tainted by fraud
During two decades at the forefront of Argentine politics, Cristina Kirchner inspired love and loathing in equal measure, but rarely indifference. She has made several comebacks over the years -- even escaping unscathed from an assassination attempt -- but may now have come to the end of her political tether. On Tuesday, the country's Supreme Court upheld Kirchner's six-year prison sentence for a graft conviction and confirmed a lifetime ban on her holding public office. The 72-year-old has five days to present herself to authorities for arrangements to be made for serving her sentence. Kirchner was born in 1953 in the small town of Tolosa, just outside the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The daughter of a bus driver and a housewife, she often played up her lower middle-class roots, though she could never hide her love of luxury brands and travel. She first came to prominence as one half of the ultimate political power couple with husband Nestor. The pair met at university when they were both law students passionate about Peronism -- a leftist ideology based on the legacy of former ruler Juan Peron. Nestor Kirchner became president in 2003, serving one term, before Cristina was elected in 2007. They expected to continue their term-for-term tango, but he died of a heart attack in 2010. Together, the couple served a collective 12 years in the Casa Rosada, the pink presidential palace, with Cristina exiting the top office for the last time in 2015. She later served as vice-president to her former chief of staff Alberto Fernandez. - Protectionist policies - To their working-class base, the Kirchners were saviors after Argentina's 2001 economic meltdown and the social unrest that followed the largest debt default in history. They were seen as standing up for the little guy against bullies both foreign and domestic. Addressing supporters outside her party headquarters after the Supreme Court ruling, she depicted her tenure as a golden era, when Argentine workers "had the highest salaries in Latin America and pensioners had the highest pensions." Her two terms, during a commodities boom, were characterized by protectionist trade policies and major investments in social programs and subsidies, which caused public spending to spiral. Under her stewardship Argentina became a regional bastion of LGBTQ rights, allowing gay marriage in 2010 and passing a gender identity law in 2012. For her detractors, however, Kirchner is a corrupt, overbearing interventionist who steered the country toward economic ruin and rampant inflation with her debt-fueled spending sprees. One of her major critics is incumbent President Javier Milei, whose budget-slashing austerity policies Kirchner has in turn slammed as inhumane. - Botched assassination bid - In December 2022, Kirchner was found guilty of fraudulently awarding public works contracts during her time as president in her southern Patagonian stronghold of Santa Cruz. Just months earlier, at a pro-Kirchner demonstration, a man pointed a revolver in Kirchner's face and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire. On Tuesday, after Argentina's Supreme Court upheld Kirchner's conviction on appeal, and confirmed a six-year prison sentence that she may ask to convert to house arrest given her age. Kirchner has been defiant throughout, accusing the justice system of persecuting Peronism. Just a week ago, she announced she would seek election to the government of Buenos Aires province in September elections. A win would have given her immunity for the duration of her term. bur-sa/lm/mar/mlr/des
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Kennedy and Milei double down on WHO exit after meeting in Buenos Aires: 'Free from totalitarian control'
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Argentine President Javier Milei on Tuesday at the Casa Rosada, where both leaders reaffirmed plans to withdraw their nations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and build a new international health framework. The meeting brought together two strong-willed political outsiders. Milei, a libertarian economist known for cutting government spending, and Kennedy, a Trump-appointed health chief skeptical of pandemic-era mandates. Both promised to challenge what they call global overreach and politicized health policy. Argentina officially confirmed its exit from the WHO during Kennedy's visit, following Milei's initial announcement in February. The move aligns with President Trump's revived pledge to pull the U.S. out of the WHO as part of his "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) RFK JR. FLOGS WHO FOR CAVING TO CHINA ON COVID, CELEBRATING PANDEMIC 'FAILURES' IN STUNNING VIDEO TO ORG Milei's government blasted the WHO for what it called a failed COVID response. "The WHO's prescriptions do not work because they are not based on science but on political interests and bureaucratic structures that refuse to review their own mistakes," the government said, referring to the group's lockdown strategy as a "caveman quarantine." Kennedy offered support, encouraging other countries to also exit the WHO in a recent address to the World Health Assembly. He has argued the organization is compromised by foreign governments and corporate interests, and that a fresh approach is needed. After the meeting, Kennedy posted on X: "I had a wonderful meeting with President Milei about the mutual withdrawal of our nations from the WHO and the creation of an alternative international health system... free from totalitarian impulses, corruption, and political control." Both governments say the new alliance will prioritize real science, individual freedom, and national sovereignty, pushing back against what Milei's team calls "interference" from global MILEI SHUTS UP CRITICS WITH MIRACLE TURNAROUND OF ECONOMY, STRONG SECURITY POLICIES The meeting also highlighted shared philosophies between the two leaders. Milei took office vowing to slash Argentina's massive public spending. He famously carried a chainsaw during his campaign to symbolize budget cuts—and has since followed through, cutting public salaries, halting state projects, and ending energy subsidies. His tough measures have produced results: Argentina posted its first budget surplus in nearly 15 years and sharply reduced monthly inflation. Kennedy's MAHA campaign echoes Milei's anti-establishment style, but in the health sector. The Trump administration's health agenda has focused on rolling back federal overreach, enforcing science-based policy, and promoting transparency in public health. Tuesday's meeting marks a deeper alignment between Argentina and the current U.S. administration. Milei has welcomed top American officials in recent months and shown clear interest in building strong ties with Washington. Now, by joining the U.S. in rejecting the WHO, Milei becomes the first foreign leader to openly back Trump's health sovereignty push. The decision is a major departure from Argentina's previous international partnerships and could signal a shift for other countries weighing similar moves. Both Milei and Kennedy have framed the initiative as the start of a more accountable and independent global health network. Critics, including some in Argentina's opposition, warn that leaving the WHO could limit access to funding and vaccines. Global health experts largely defend the WHO's role, despite acknowledging its COVID missteps. But Milei and Kennedy appear unfazed. Argentina's health minister praised the shared "vision" between the two governments, emphasizing a joint commitment to transparency and HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
