Argentina

Lawfare and proscription

Cristina Kirchner; Socialist,  Political Prisoner 

JUNE 25, 2025

From Argentina to the UK, the rule of law and democracy are being seriously compromised, as the conviction and sentencing of Cristina Kirchner shows. Martina Rodriguez reports.

On Wednesday 18th June, former twice President and Vice President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK), was sentenced to six years of house arrest. Yet she was found innocent of corruption charges and the mainstream anglophone media is not talking about it. I found only a handful of articles in English on Cristina’s imprisonment but none mentioned the irregularities of the case, the unjust sentencing, or what she was actually convicted of. This is a case of proscription, so that Cristina, Peronism, and any political alternative to the neoliberal agenda are removed from the opposition. 

As I began writing this, the marches in support of Cristina Kirchner’s release were among the largest and most politically diverse crowds I have seen in years. Spread across the entire country, though mostly concentrated in Buenos Aires, it was estimated that one million people have taken to the streets. The ‘International Network Argentina is Not for Sale’, made up of grassroots groups and assemblies of Argentines in the diaspora from cities all around the world—including Barcelona, Berlin, London, Madrid, Málaga, Paris, Lisbon, Toulouse, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Brussels, and more— also mobilised against the authoritarian regimes that attack those who dare dream of a world with social justice.

Given the state of the world is heartrending, it may seem inconsequential for people in the UK to follow the specific court case of a politician in Argentina, who is no longer in power. The ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, the vile anti-migrant rhetoric and public policies from the US to the UK, the resurgence of fascist and far-right movements in Europe are just some of the most urgent crises we face. Across the globe, democracy and the rule of law face countless threats, but above all, it is the people’s freedom to live with dignity that is under attack.

What is happening in Argentina is neither disconnected nor isolated from the broader issues mentioned above, particularly, how lawfare and proscription, shaped by para-state global powers, became a worldwide recipe to squash political dissent, and free speech. We have seen it, time and time again. Recently, Brazil saw the unfair imprisonment of Lula and later corruption convictions annulled. Or, in the UK, the Labour Government’s intentions to proscribe activist group Palestine Action by attempting to make it illegal to support them, is another example. 

I wanted to break down Cristina’s case because, even though it is complex, it’s essential to contextualise it so that we can unveil the strings that have been pulling this off. 

The court case

In 2022 I was already ranting on former-Twitter at articles at the time titled “Cristina Kirchner sentenced for giving public contracts to her friends”. The world failed to see this case for what it actually is: the corruption of the economic, judicial and media powers of my country, and many others. I was also warning this could be the endgame: banning CFK from getting into power again. 

Cristina was accused of running a corruption scheme with businessman Lázaro Báez, supposedly funnelling public money through overpriced roadworks in the province of Santa Cruz between 2003 and 2015. The prosecutors claim CFK and her late husband, former President Néstor Kirchner, favoured Báez and helped him win contracts illegally — enriching him and allegedly themselves. But this case is seriously riddled with legal inconsistencies and political, judicial and media corruption. Despite its legal framing, this case is fundamentally political.

For friends, comrades, and people with a degree of intellectual honesty, it should be really important to know that even though in 2022 Cristina was charged with “fraudulent administration”, it is the Cabinet Office Minister who manages the budget, not the President— and no Cabinet Office Minister has been prosecuted. Legally, fraudulent administration does not apply here, as the chain of responsibility stops before it reaches CFK. But more importantly, in 2023, she was acquitted of said corruption charges, only to face a new conviction in 2025. Why now? Because she announced her candidacy in local elections. And the ultimate goal was for the conviction to serve as a lifetime ban on serving any roles in public office.

Prior to this sentence, the defence and the evidence had already shown that:

• Everything followed legal and constitutional procedures. The budgets were approved by Congress. Funds were allocated legally and transparently.
• There was no interference from the presidency. Witnesses — even those with no political loyalty to CFK — testified that there were no irregular orders from the top.
• There was no proof of overpricing or incomplete work. The work was done. No money was paid for unfinished projects. And the one expert assessment allowed by the court found no fraud.
• Any personal or commercial links were legal. Business relationships (for example, property rentals) were previously investigated and cleared by courts.
• The accusation was based on narrative, not evidence. The prosecution relied on cherry-picked texts and speculation, while ignoring key witnesses and procedures.

Here is where it gets wildly dangerous. In the first instance of 2022, a series of leaked WhatsApp messages revealed that the very judges and prosecutors involved in CFK’s conviction had just returned from a cosy retreat in Lago Escondido — the private estate of Joe Lewis, a British billionaire which is literally fenced off access to a national lake. Among the attendees were: 

• Judge Julián Ercolini, who helped sentence CFK and also let off our very own Rupert Murdoch media mogul Héctor Magnetto (more on him shortly).
• Prosecutor Juan Mahiques, former President Mauricio Macri’s ally, who dismissed a land-grab case against…  Joe Lewis.
• Judge Pablo Cayssials, involved in blocking the Media Law aimed at breaking up media monopolies.
• Officials from the Buenos Aires government, tied to Macri’s circle — including Marcelo D’Alessandro, who oversaw security on the day of the assassination attempt on CFK.
• A former intelligence agent.

And how did they get there? On a private jet, paid for by Grupo Clarín, Argentina’s largest and most powerful media group directed by… Hector Magneto. Waiting at the airport? Magnetto’s people — Pablo Casey and Jorge Rendo — there to welcome the lads and roll out the red carpet. They all organised this junket in a WhatsApp group — which also included messages threatening public officials who found out about the trip, planning media smears, and generally bragging about how untouchable they are. 

During the second instance in court we find:

• Judge Leopoldo Bruglia, appointed arbitrarily, without open competition, by Macri, and kept in place by the Supreme Court.

At the Court of Cassation:

• Judge Mariano Borinsky, who met with Macri sixteen times at the presidential residence in Olivos.
• Judge Gustavo Hornos, who met with Macri six times, between the Olivos residence and the Casa Rosada.
• Prosecutor Mario Villar, appointed by Macri.

At the Oral Trial:

• Judge Rodrigo Giménez Uriburu, who played football at Macri’s private residence with Prosecutor Luciani.
• Prosecutor Diego Luciani, who played football at Macri’s residence with Judge Giménez Uriburu.

At the Supreme Court:

• Horacio Rosatti, who agreed to violate the Constitution by accepting an appointment by presidential decree from Macri.
• Carlos Rosenkrantz, who also accepted an unconstitutional appointment by Macri, and continues to rule on cases involving his former clients.

Ricardo Lorenzetti, the puppet master of lawfare.

After reading this, how can any single person believe Cristina Kirchner was subjected to a fair and objective trial? To cite journalist Ari Lijalad: “it is truly impossible to believe that this case could be considered part of a rule-of-law framework.”

What is the case really about?

So what is this case about then? It is about persecuting Cristina herself. It is about persecuting Peronism—once again. They have tried to eradicate it many times in the past: with coups and dictatorships, by imprisoning Perón, bombing Buenos Aires in 1955, torturing, raping, disappearing, murdering, stealing babies in the last civic-military dictatorship. 

It is about who actually owns the country. It is about discipline—over our bodies, our ideas, our land, our nature. It is about more and more control, and more and more extraction: of wealth, of labour, of natural resources—for more and more concentration of money in fewer and fewer hands. It is about taking billions in debt, while simultaneously making more cuts. It is about giving our country away to the US and multinational corporations, so that they can freely extract resources while precarity and job insecurity increase. 

It is also about political dissent—it is about any and all opposition to neoliberalism, capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy and white supremacy. For the first time since I can remember, Trotskyists, anarchists, socialists, communists and citizens in general have united against the arbitrariness of this sentence—against this subjugation of democracy and political freedoms. All parties and organisations on the left offered Cristina their support by going to her house, and immediately calling for strikes and roadblocks. Regardless of internal or external divisions of all parties on the left, it was a clear and loud message: we cannot allow lawfare to reshape the global political and social landscape in an increasingly restrictive and regressive direction. 

This sentence is categorically not about fighting corruption—not in the slightest. If it were, they would have tried to investigate Mauricio Macri’s 215 open cases, or his involvement in the Panama Papers. They would have pursued the appalling scandal involving President Javier Milei’s promotion of the meme coin Libra, which scammed hundreds of people out of 100 million dollars—a scandal that everyone seems to have forgotten.

Under Milei’s presidency, there is a constant attack on pensioners who demonstrate every Wednesday outside Congress and are beaten. The repression nearly killed a journalist just a few months ago. It also went unnoticed, but Milei granted the Argentine Federal Police sweeping powers to detain and search individuals without a court order based on social media activity, appearance, or presence at public demonstrations. What kind of freedom can we talk about, when any form of political dissent is met with violence coordinated from the state, the judicial system, the mainstream media and the financial sectors? 

CFK has asked us all as Argentinean citizens to meet the challenge, to be united and to have serious political discussions, despite our disagreements, about how to pose a threat and meaningful alternative to those powers.

Martina Rodriguez is an Argentinian living in London. She is currently doing an MA in Gender, Media and Culture at Goldsmiths, and works as a Community Organiser at IRMO. She co-founded Ni Una Menos UK, and is part of the Argentina Solidarity Campaign and Feminist Assembly of Latin Americans.

Image: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner https://picryl.com/media/cristina-fernandez-de-kirchner-2020-9373ee Source: gob.ar Licene: Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal PDM 1.0 Deed

Argentina: ITUC condemns political sentence against Cristina Kirchner

17th June 2025Leave a Commenton Argentina: ITUC condemns political sentence against Cristina Kirchner

“This is political repression, which marks another step in the billionaire backed coup against democracy. The use of the courts to remove political opponents is a dangerous tactic that threatens workers’ rights and democratic institutions.”

Luc Triangle, ITUC General Secretary

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has denounced the ratification of a prison sentence against former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, describing it as a political act that undermines democracy and the rule of law.

Her sentencing comes amid a broader anti-democratic context in Argentina, where President Javier Milei’s government has increasingly concentrated power and attacked dissent.

Argentina’s score in the 2025 ITUC Global Rights Index declined to 4, indicating systematic violations of workers’ rights, including limitations on the right to strike, collective bargaining and access to justice.

ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle said: “This is political repression, which marks another step in the billionaire backed coup against democracy. The use of the courts to remove political opponents is a dangerous tactic that threatens workers’ rights and democratic institutions.”

The ITUC expressed concern at the growing trend of criminalising trade unions, progressive leaders and social movements through politicised judicial action. It reaffirmed its support for its affiliates in Argentina and for all those resisting this erosion of democratic space.