Sentenced to prison, Cristina Kirchner explodes against the "judicial mafia" and leaves Peronism in suspense

• Argentina Historic sentence: six years in prison for Cristina Kirchner for corruption

It was the end of a devastatingly hot afternoon and the Argentine institutional framework was hit and strengthened at the same time, as perhaps never before in 39 years of democracy.

The citizens continued to digest the news, the president was abroad and, in her office in the Senate of the Nation, the vice president sought to once again set the course for her party and her country.

Yes, even on the worst day of her political life.

Furious and with a broken voice,

lowered her head like a bull before a red rag and charged with all her might: the six-year prison sentence she was given for defrauding the State is the product of a "judicial mafia" , of a "parallel state".

And she does not plan to submit to those dark forces that rule "outside the electoral results."

That is why she will not run for office once she leaves the vice presidency of Argentina in one year, on December 10, 2023.

"To me, fraudulent administration?", he asked himself at the runaway closing of almost an hour of exposition, while the Argentines commented on a piece of news that is a watershed in the history of the country:

.

A piece of information that, however, did not paralyze the country: the demonstrations of support for Fernández de Kirchner were fewer.

Argentines today have closer and more direct problems to deal with, among them

of one hundred percent per year.

Kirchnerism, which dominated the country's political life in the last two decades, thus received a blow with unpredictable consequences in an already negative context: polls predict

that of the legislative ones of 2021, the worst in the history of Peronism.

will not go to prison

Fernández de Kirchner, 69, will not enter prison, since this does not happen in the Argentine judicial system until

The vice president still has two, and if the prison sentence were finally confirmed, she would serve it at her home, for being over 70 years old.

But on that scorching Tuesday, Cristina focused on something else: her political future and that of Peronism.

"I will not be a candidate! On December 10, 2023 I will not have privileges, my name will not be on any ballot, I finish on December 10 and I return home. If they don't shoot me before, " added the two-time president (2007-2015) in a volcanic discharge at a time when, in the absence of Fernández, she was the president of the Nation.

The shot is not a metaphor: on September 1, a man planted a gun in her face, but the bullet did not come out.

Fernández de Kirchner maintains that he was not a "loose madman", but someone sent by powerful people who want to eliminate her.

In that hectic final stretch, the vice president spoke directly to Héctor Magnetto, CEO of Grupo Clarín, which publishes the most widely read newspaper in the country, and for which the former president feels a particular grudge.

The outburst of rage and the content of her words were amazing.

"Good news for you, Magnetto, because on December 10, 2023 I will not have privileges, I will no longer be vice president, so

But pet of you, Magnetto, never, ever!"

An hour before the vice president's verbal outburst, Jorge Gorini, one of the three judges who signed the sentence, read the sentence, a moment that was followed with enormous expectation by millions of Argentines.

A sentence that included

and a figure of 84,434 million pesos (about 500 million euros) that should be confiscated from those convicted and returned to the public treasury.

The prosecutor's office has already announced that it will appeal the sentence: they were asking for 12 years in prison and a conviction for illicit association, which the court dismissed.

The court was as clear as it was harsh in its fundamentals.

"We are certain that there was an extraordinary fraudulent maneuver that harmed the State," the judges pointed out, before adding a devastating sentence:

."

It was the end, beyond the appeals that will come, of a process that began in November 2008 with the complaint of three women: Elisa Carrió, leader of the Civic Coalition (CC) and the current deputies Paula Oliveto and Mariana Zuvic, from the same party, which is part of the opposition coalition Together for Change.

"From today we are all equal before the law"

"After 14 years of fighting against impunity, there is justice, and from today we are all equal before the law," said Zuvic, whose father was a close friend of Néstor Kirchner, president between 2003 and 2007 and who died in 2010. Zuvic Sr. committed suicide, and in a letter to his family he mentioned the disappointment that his friend Néstor's corruption generated in him, as the deputy recalled with emotion, interviewed by Argentine television.

"One of Cristina's objectives in her return to power was to tame the Justice, and that has not happened. It is a notable political failure on her part," said political analyst Nelson Castro.

The journalist Claudio Savoia broadened the focus in "Clarín" and commented on the sentence in a regional context and not without irony.

"

: the Peruvians Alberto Fujimori, Alan García, Ollanta Humala, Martín Vizcarra, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Alejandro Toledo; the Ecuadorians Jamil Mahuad and Rafael Correa; the Paraguayans Luis González Macchi and Juan Carlos Wasmosy; the Cristina Kirchner adds her name to Carlos Menem to reinforce the Argentine contribution to the country Great".

"Página/12", a newspaper related to the government, saw things differently: "The final blow of lawfare: condemnation and ban for CFK."

Casa Rosada released a statement criticizing the judicial process for being "riddled with irregularities" and "cutting off the political rights of the vice president and the electorate."

"We are facing an anti-republican act of the Judiciary," it was written from the headquarters of the Head of State.

In his extensive, emphatic and disorderly defense, Fernández de Kirchner emphasized that "the President of the Nation is not responsible for the administration and execution of the budget", and that this is in the hands of the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers.

One of his chiefs of staff was Sergio Massa, current Minister of Economy.

And another was Fernández, current president of the Nation.

"This does not mean that it means that they have any responsibility," Fernández de Kirchner clarified.

With delay, Massa and Fernández expressed solidarity on twitter with the vice president.

Already at the edge of midnight on Tuesday, Javier Iguacel appeared on television, who with his complaint as national director of Highways (Roads) gave new impetus to the cause for which Fernández de Kirchner was convicted in 2015.

Today mayor of a small town, Iguacel was blunt: "People no longer care about Cristina Kirchner,

. "

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