The United States government banned Argentina's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her immediate family members from entering the country due to her corruption conviction, a move bound to polarise the country’s midterm elections later this year.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the decision to designate Fernández de Kirchner and her former public works minister Julio De Vido “for significant corruption,” according to a statement.
In 2022, Fernández de Kirchner was sentenced to six years in prison in corruption case, but didn’t serve any time because she had legal immunity as the sitting vice-president of Argentina at the time. She also served as president from 2007 to 2015. Her party lost the most recent election to current President Javier Milei, but she has remained a prominent political figure in the opposition.
Fernández de Kirchner and De Vido “abused their positions by orchestrating and financially benefiting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government,” according to Rubio’s statement.
In a lengthy post on X, Fernández de Kirchner resurfaced a crypto scandal that’s embarrassed Milei and led to a formal investigation that’s ongoing. She also claimed his reforms weren’t delivering the growth or “fuel” he promised voters, forcing him to seek aid from US President Donald Trump.
“You alone don’t have the fuel...not in the economy, not in politics. That’s why you went to ask Trump and the IMF for help,” Fernández de Kirchner wrote, referring to Argentina’s ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.
Milei earlier mocked Fernández de Kirchner in a post on X, turning to Argentine slang she often uses to insult him on her. “Hey, Cristina,” Milei wrote roughly, linking to the US State Department’s website.
CHE Cristina...
Fin.https://t.co/D0uX5Pd3AD
— Javier Milei (@JMilei) March 21, 2025
Fernández de Kirchner didn’t make new remarks about her corruption conviction, but she’s repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the corruption conviction as politically motivated. The measure would impact her adult son Máximo Kirchner, who is a sitting member of Congress. Fernández de Kirchner’s daughter, Florencia, lived in New York a decade ago before returning to Argentina.
Rubio’s decision reflects the pendulum shift in Argentine politics. Milei has overwhelmingly supported Trump even before the US elections, including reversing some of Argentina’s foreign policy decisions to align with the American position. He’s also travelled to the US three times since November to see Trump or attend his inauguration.
Milei and Fernández de Kirchner were already heading toward crucial midterm elections in October and the US sanctions only intensify the spotlight on them, while more centrist parties struggle to remain relevant in a polarising race.
In the midterms, Milei is seeking to significantly bulk up his seats in Congress as his party remains a tiny minority to advance his pro-market reform agenda. Meanwhile, Fernández de Kirchner was appointed president of the official party for the Peronist political movement, and she’s looking to regroup the bloc that’s dominated Argentina politics for decades after a landslide presidential election loss in 2023.
Fernández de Kirchner hasn’t announced whether she would herself run as a candidate in the upcoming elections. Besides her two roles in the executive branch, she was also a senator.
by Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg
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