How Cristina Kirchner spends her days under house arrest in Constitución
Cristina Kirchner's perpetual ban from holding public office due to her corruption conviction has created something paradoxical: the former president has ramped up her political activity in her attempt to secure an electoral victory for Peronism. She's in prison, but she's regained a central role. What she once projected from the Instituto Patria and the headquarters of the Justicialist Party, she now articulates from an apartment with balconies, in a building covered in stickers of her face and letters from her supporters, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Constitución , although she prefers to say she lives in Monserrat .
That corner, to which he moved to be close to his daughter Florencia and his granddaughter Helena , is his brand new leadership headquarters , but it is also the cell that Justice approved for him, after confirming his six-year prison sentence with the possibility of serving the sentence at home.
She left the department on Wednesday the 11th as the leader of the main opposition party and as a candidate for Buenos Aires legislator. And she returned convicted of corruption and disqualified. She went from maintaining a cult of privacy to having to inform the courts about every visit. She also faces uncertainty about the staff who works for her or the teacher who accompanies her in her yoga classes and encourages her during her treadmill exercises.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, the former president focused on injecting adrenaline into a PJ party that had been crestfallen and powerless to react to the Javier Milei administration. Next Tuesday, from the headquarters on Matheu Street, they will decide whether to use the name Peronism to confront the Libertarians in the two crucial upcoming elections in the province of Buenos Aires.
Cristina Kirchner went to the party headquarters on June 11 to meet with senators. But the Supreme Court's ruling was rushed, and the former president retreated upstairs with her closest circle , who accompanied her in the first minutes after receiving the news. That day, those who saw her say, she appeared distressed. However, those close to her say, she also resumed her message. to regroup Peronism "from above, below, and in the middle" and, tied to her vocation for power, she resolved not to appear defeated in the face of her adversaries. That night there was a "strawberry moon" in the sky.
Since the conviction, Cristina Kirchner has received a flood of requests to meet with her in Constitución , even from leaders who were estranged, such as Guillermo Moreno , with whom she ate empanadas in the apartment. Other close friends of the former president also visited, such as her son, National Representative Máximo Kirchner ; the mayor of Quilmes, Mayra Mendoza; the mayor of Moreno, Mariel Fernández; and Mendoza Senator Anabel Fernández Sagasti.
In the following days, Cristina Kirchner continued to drink her signature mate cocido , and the Plaza del 18 (the square on the 18th) slowly began to take shape. Those who were with her say they felt " strengthened," although they admit there were moments of tiredness and stress . The former president expressed anger at the outcome of the judicial investigation into the allocation of public works in favor of Lázaro Báez.
The only one who openly shared that he felt her cry was Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In photos, she chose to smile. She was seen with the governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela; with truck driver leader Pablo Moyano ; and other like-minded unionists. Also present were Lomas residents Daniela Vilar and Federico Otermin , and Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel , who brought her a jar of homemade honey. He received them in the living room of his house , which doubles as an office. He made constant calls to the PJ leadership, legislators, and mayors. He asked them about Milei's administration, and how they view macroeconomics and microeconomics. He didn't speak with Axel Kicillof . While waiting for decisions and to pass the time, he watched TV series and read papers .
The messages with her secretaries became dynamic. They went back and forth from Constitución to the PJ (Party of the Party of Justice) and from the PJ to Constitución to coordinate each of the post-conviction activities in which Cristina Kirchner became involved. So many sectors moved during those days of extreme intrigue that working groups were even set up at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) , which is nine blocks from the apartment.
Between more chocolates , which the former president won't let go of because they're her downfall—Rapanui, and other brands as well—she communicated constantly with her lawyer, Carlos Beraldi , who handled her defense at the Highway Department. Her family, Máximo, Florencia, and her granddaughter , acted as a dam during these days. Her followers, too, were there.
In an unprecedented situation for Argentina, such as the sentencing of a former president, some symbols emerged that Cristina Kirchner sought to exploit with political cunning. One was the balcony , with outings in which she attempted to hold vigil for the militants. She chose not to appear dejected . On the contrary, she danced, waved, and appeared with her usual polished looks and her rosary. She did her own makeup before each appearance—as she has since she was young—and also combed her hair. She only calls her longtime hairdresser for special occasions. Once, she sported a bun .
On Tuesday, at 5 p.m., she had to open the doors of her home to the commissioner of the 1C precinct of the City Police , who came to notify her of the sentence. And on Thursday, Federal Penitentiary Service personnel fitted her with the electronic anklet .
On Tuesday, the day the Justice Department notified Cristina Kirchner of her arrest virtually and canceled her visit to Comodoro Py, the Kirchnerites changed the destination for the first march of the Milei era. Relocating to Plaza de Mayo initially raised concerns in case there were any empty spaces. Senator José Mayans, between calls, took it upon himself to gauge the mobilization commitments. Then they moved forward. Should Mayans give the speech, as Cristina's replacement in the party? Could Máximo Kirchner and Axel Kicillof speak together, despite their feud? These were the possibilities considered. Mayra Mendoza insisted that Cristina Kirchner herself go. "She was the one most involved in the issue," they explained to LA NACION . That same afternoon during the event, the idea of the former president's audio recordings emerged, a new form of rhetoric that seems here to stay. There was no image.
Cristina Kirchner first recorded a message, but her colleagues say that due to the size of the mobilization, she decided to speak live right away. The call was made via Zoom . Her collaborators felt that this type of call was more stable so that it could be heard from the plaza.
After that, the former president contacted leaders she respected to ask them how she'd been and what they thought. This time, they noticed she was happy . That feeling didn't last long. When she woke up on Friday and saw the fence outside her window, and the presence of the Argentine Federal Police ( PFA ) agents ordered by the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich , enraged Cristina Kirchner. She did not spare darts for the minister, convinced that Bullrich was looking to cause disorder outside her department. "Mrs. Violence," she said to her in X and had to change the location of the flag-waving that was going to take place in front of her house. She reiterated the formula to address her followers, but this time in Parque Lezama .
Although it is usually a common rule for detainees, Cristina Kirchner is unhappy with the visitation regime which determines whether the court will allow or deny those who intend to visit her, beyond her circle of family or lawyers. Her defense team requested the reversal. "Only with this Judicial District," the former president tweeted on Saturday. Her supporters consider the move impractical and say it violates her privacy. It's an "incongruity" that seeks to limit her contact with people. Her opponents remind her on TV that she's in prison and claim she can't do what she wants. "These situations are unfair, but they strengthen her," one follower was convinced.
lanacion
