The Kirchnerist sector of the Argentine government and Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, impressively, given the depth of the economic crisis that Argentina is going through, have unleashed a new barrage against the Judiciary in general and particularly against the Supreme Court of Justice.
After the electoral defeat of 2015 and the inauguration of the government of Mauricio Macri, a series of legal proceedings was opened against Cristina, whose common denominator was the accusations of corruption, basically with involvement in public works.
Although some of the cases ended in acquittal, others continued, and even several of them merged into a single cause.
During this period, Argentines saw, through the media, videos in which the children of businessmen linked to the government counted bags of money. Nearly US$ 5 million in the name of the former president’s daughter were also found in a bank’s security vault.
In short, a series of evidence that has supported and sustains the judicial process until today and that structure the prosecution’s accusatory argument that is being produced.
Kirchnerism invoked the figure of the “lawfare”, a political figure that developed in Latin American politics to signify the judicial persecution of popular presidents.
The opposition warns that the evidence of the process shows blatant acts of corruption during Cristina’s governments.
This is the context in which Kirchnerism, often accompanied by the government of Alberto Fernández, denounces a political persecution with judicial tools against Cristina.
This tension even led to a change in the Minister of Justice, with the departure of a renowned jurist, Marcela Losardo, who was close to Fernández, and the arrival of a politician, Martín Soria, who reports directly to Cristina.
Although this change was seen by the opposition as a way to put an end to legal proceedings, they are currently continuing and are just one step away from the verdict.
Given this failed attempt to intervene in the body’s decision, Kirchnerism currently proposes an expansion of the Supreme Court from its current five members to 25, one for each province, with the aim of watering down the process.
This, however, has little possibility of going forward, since officialdom does not have a majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
What are the scenarios in the face of attacks on the Supreme Court?
First, although the fear of Cristina Kirchner and her political sector increases with the imminent end of the process and a probable verdict of culpability, of all or part of the indictment, she has and will certainly have parliamentary immunity until the next presidential elections, in 2023
Furthermore, this fear is not centered on his figure; the lawsuit involves his daughter Florencia, who has always been away from politics and public exposure, and numerous former employees of his former government.
On the other hand, it may be that this new offensive on Justice has the implicit intention of removing Cristina and Kirchnerism from the center of politics, given the economic crisis that is being experienced and the risk of an exchange rate run and a possible devaluation, thus allowing that the crisis be absorbed by the political sector of the government that responds to Fernández.
Finally, the idea of a possible conviction that would lead to a political ban on Cristina for the 2023 elections began to be timidly mentioned and that would prevent her from a direct candidacy, which would cause direct damage to the electorate in her own sector.
In short, the mega-case targeting Kirchnerism has lasted six years and is coming to an end.
And, in addition to the convictions that will emerge from this verdict, what can be considered almost certain is the great political impact it will have on the country.
Translation of Giulia Gaspar
