Latin American leaders published this Wednesday (24) a letter of support for Argentina’s vice president, Cristina Kirchner.
The collective defense comes on the heels of a 12-year prison order for Cristina made by prosecutor Diego Luciani on Monday (22), in a case in which she is accused of leading an illicit association and fraud scheme to the state during the period in which she was President of the Republic, between 2007 and 2015.
Luciani also requested that Cristina be disqualified from running for public office for the rest of her life and that 5.3 billion pesos (R$ 200 million) be returned to the public coffers.
“This persecution aims to remove Cristina Kirchner from public, political and electoral life, as well as burying the values ​​and ideals that she represents, with the ultimate goal of implementing a neoliberal model,” reads the letter, signed by the presidents of Mexico, Colombia. and Bolivia.
The letter was also signed by Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who said on Monday that his deputy was the victim of a “judicial persecution”.
Despite not having signed the document, Pedro Castillo, president of Peru, reposted the letter with the message: “My solidarity with the vice president of the sister republic Argentina.”
Gabriel Boric, president of Chile, also did not sign. THE Sheet questioned his advice about the absence of his name, but received no response until the publication of this report.
Cristina, one of the country’s top political figures, leads the hard-line wing of the center-left Peronist coalition that has ruled Argentina since late 2019.
The current process began later that year, and the judges are expected to issue a verdict within a few months. The vice president, who also presides over the Senate, enjoys parliamentary immunity that protects her from both arrest and political disqualification.
A sentence against Kirchner can only become effective if it is ratified by the Supreme Court or if she loses parliamentary immunity. Either way, Cristina could appeal any verdict, possibly delaying the final decision for years.
Sentences of between 5 and 12 years were also requested for another 12 accused, including former minister Julio De Vido and businessman Lázaro Báez, who benefited from the concession of works without bidding in the governments of Cristina and her predecessor and husband, Néstor. Kirchner.
The political crisis is compounded by the economic crisis, with local inflation of 70% in the last 12 months, a record value of the last 30 years. The forecast is that it will reach 90% by the end of the year, which makes the country have the highest rate of price increase on the continent, surpassing even Venezuela.
These numbers, however, may be conservative because, as of September, increases in electricity, gas and water tariffs are expected. Inflation is estimated to reach 300%. Another element that should fuel the price increase is an expected devaluation of the Argentine peso.
The crisis made the Argentine president create a “super-ministry” of the Economy, which got its name because it aggregated the previously independent portfolios of Economy, Productive Development and Agriculture and Fisheries. Fernández appointed attorney Sergio Massa to head the portfolio, who then announced a package of measures to try to give stability to the country, in a difficult exchange rate and inflationary situation.
More than recovering the economy, Casa Rosada hopes that the change can also represent a salvation for its government. Unpopular, President Alberto Fernández finds himself plunged into a deep political crisis that separates him from his vice in a power struggle.
In this tension, Cristina has prevailed: it was her nomination for Massa to the super-ministry. According to analysts, Massa will act as a kind of prime minister, answering to Cristina and, in effect, capping Fernández’s corner.
The vice president, however, has always been critical of the government’s fiscal adjustment policies. She did not attend Massa’s inauguration in early August.
