Buenos Aires, Sept 19 (EFE).- Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández said Tuesday that she will appear in public this Saturday at an event for the re-release of a book by her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), after two months of public silence and a day after the announcement of the reopening of two cases against her.
Fernández made the announcement of her participation in the event on the social network X (formerly Twitter) less than 24 hours after Argentina’s highest criminal court ruled against her and decided to reopen two prominent cases, one for alleged money laundering and the other for signing a memorandum with Iran during her term as president (2007-2015).
THE CASES AGAINST FERNÁNDEZ
In the first case, popularly known as Hotesur-Los Sauces, the court overturned the suspension imposed by a lower court in November 2021.
The case is named after two companies linked to the Kirchner family, and in it the vice president, her son, congressman Máximo Kirchner, and others are being investigated for alleged maneuvers through these companies to launder money from the awarding of public works.
In a separate ruling, the same court revoked her dismissal of the case related to the signing in 2013 of a memorandum of understanding between Argentina and Iran.
Argentina signed this agreement to facilitate the investigation of the 1994 bombing of the offices of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and for which several Iranian nationals were accused, but the courts have investigated whether the memorandum was in fact a maneuver to cover up for several Iranian officials.
The case was opened following a complaint by prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead in his home with a gunshot wound to the head a few days after making the accusations against Fernández public.
In addition to these trials, the vice-president is implicated in the case of the notebooks, which relates to alleged irregularities in public works during the three Kirchner administrations, her husband’s, the late former president Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), and her two terms in office (2007-2015).
Fernández, 70, whose term as vice president ends next December 10, was sentenced in December 2022 to 6 years in prison and disqualification from holding public office in an oral trial for fraudulent administration, whose sentence is being appealed.
The Vice President, who suffered an assassination attempt in September 2022 during the final stages of this trial, has claimed several times that she is a victim of judicial harassment.
LOW-PROFILE VICE PRESIDENT
Fernández has been out of the spotlight since last July 17, and didn’t even help her party campaign for the August primaries, which left Argentina with a “three-way” scenario and the unexpected triumph of far-right candidate Javier Milei.
The Peronist ruling coalition suffered in the primaries from a socioeconomic crisis with triple-digit inflation (124.4% year-on-year) and poverty affecting almost half the population.
None of the three political formations reached 30% of the vote, making the outlook for the October 22 elections quite uncertain. EFE
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