CFK begins house arrest: ‘Can I go out to my balcony or not?’

Former p[resident Cristina Fernández de Kirchner started her first full day of house arrest wondering what she can actually do at her home in Argentina’s capital for the next six years.

With throngs of supporters swarming outside her Buenos Aires apartment Wednesday, Fernández de Kirchner sought clarity from a judge before she opened her French doors.

“Can I go out to my balcony or not? It sounds like a joke, but no,” the 72-year-old leftist said in a post on X, attaching a letter from her lawyers to the court asking whether she can speak to the public from her perch, where she was seen waving to crowds Tuesday before her request for house arrest was granted.

Speaking in an audio-only speech broadcast Wednesday afternoon, Fernández de Kirchner even revealed her address. “I’m here under arrest at San Jose 1111, without being able to go out to my balcony,” she said. “Good thing I don’t have pots with plants because I couldn’t even water them.”

In opting against sending her to prison after her corruption conviction was confirmed, the judges noted Fernández de Kirchner “must abstain from adopting behaviours that disturb peace in the neighbourhood and/or alter pacific coexistence of its residents.”

That directive marks a new reality for the former president, who has dominated Argentine politics for most of the past two decades and is known for long speeches to packed crowds of enthusiastic supporters. Beyond her freedom, Fernández de Kirchner also risks losing her grip on the Peronist political movement that she’s controlled for years, especially if she can’t speak directly to the public.

Peronism faces its first test without Fernández de Kirchner in September at its traditional home base in Buenos Aires Province, where the movement will compete in a local election against candidates representing President Javier Milei’s upstart libertarian party.

A month later, Argentines vote in crucial midterm elections that could see Milei boost his standing in Congress after crushing runaway inflation and returning the economy to growth after two years of contraction.

Various groups of protesters dispersed across downtown Buenos Aires planned to converge Wednesday afternoon on Plaza de Mayo, in front of the presidential palace. Traffic was blocked in several locations and police put up metal barricades to distance marchers from Casa Rosada, the Italianate headquarters of Argentina’s executive branch.

“You know why they won’t let me compete,” Fernández de Kirchner said in her audio broadcast, referring to the Buenos Aires Province vote, for which she had announced her candidacy before her conviction was upheld. “Because they know they’ll lose.”