Cristina Kirchner sentenced to six years in corruption trial

Argentinian Vice President Cristina Kirchner was handed a six-year prison sentence plus a lifetime ban from holding elected office in a corruption trial on Tuesday.

The decision does not necessarily mean that Ms. Kirchner will go behind bars, as a long appeals process will follow. The vice president is 69 years old, just shy of 70, the threshold for house arrest in Argentina, and she also has immunity due to holding elected office.

But the sentence will undoubtedly shock the country’s politics, where she is still seen as the real leader of the ruling Peronist coalition.

Ms. Kirchner has faced multiple court cases, but none had ever made it to sentencing before.

She was accused of leading an illicit ring to hand public works contracts to friendly businessmen during her time as president, between 2007 and 2015. The court found Ms. Kirchner guilty of defrauding the state, but absolved her of leading an illicit association.

The case focuses on Lázaro Báez, a contractor in Santa Cruz province, in the southern Patagonia region — the political birthplace of the Kirchner family. Mr. Báez was a friend of the late Néstor Kirchner, who was married to Ms. Kirchner for 35 years until his death in 2010 and was her predecessor as president (2003-2007).

The Kirchner family has been at the center of Argentinian politics since Mr. Kirchner was first elected. He pushed for a progressive agenda that included trials against dictatorship-era crimes, higher public spending, and conflicts with the Argentinian and Western establishments.

Cristina Kirchner is a polarizing figure and currently has more detractors than supporters. Roughly two-thirds of the country view her negatively, but the remaining third backs her strongly. Earlier this year, a gunman carried out a failed assassination attempt against her.

After a brief right-wing interregnum with the presidency of Mauricio Macri between 2015 and 2019, Ms. Kirchner regained power by handpicking the more moderate Alberto Fernández as presidential candidate and serving as his vice president. 

Ms. Kirchner compares the case against her to the corruption allegations faced by President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, which were eventually dropped, allowing him to successfully run for the presidency again this year.

The court’s decision will now undergo multiple revisions, the last of which could fall in the hands of Argentina’s Supreme Court, with which Ms. Kirchner is currently in conflict.

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