Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returned to Cuba on Saturday after mourning the death of her 89-year-old mother Ofelia Wilhelm, who had battled cancer.
Senator Fernández de Kirchner spent Friday in La Plata, Buenos Aires province with family members including her son, Maximo Kirchner, as they mourned the death of Wilhelm, who had been hospitalised since December 8 in that city’s Hospital Italiano.
At round midnight, she was at the Ezeiza International Airport to travel to Cuba via Panama.
In Cuba, she joins her daughter Florencia Kirchner, who is receiving medical treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a series of illnesses related to her nervous system.
Politicians from across the political spectrum, including the president, sent messages of condolence to the former president.
“I wish to send my condolences to former president Cristina Fernández and the Kirchner family for the death of Ofelia Wilhelm,” Mauricio Macri wrote in a Twitter post.
In line with protocol, the statement was echoed by the Governor of Buenos Aires Maria Eugenia Vidal, and was nearly identical to the one Fernández de Kirchner herself posted following the death of Franco Macri, the president’s father, in March.
The senator was forced to request permission to travel with the Fifth Oral Federal Tribunal (TOF 5), which is investigating her and former government officials for money-laundering. She will return to Argentina on April 30, three weeks before the start of the first of a series of trials against her for alleged corruption.
Florencia Kirchner also faces a number of legal battles, including two trials for alleged money-laundering. Fernández de Kirchner has claimed her daughter is a victim of political persecution aimed at her.
Fernández de Kirchner's mother, Ofelia Wilhelm, was a former union leader in the AERI union representing employees of the Economy Ministry.
She was renowned for her die-hard support of the Gimansia Esgrima de la Plata football club.
-TIMES
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