Milei’s government will leave former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner without a pension

The Government of Javier Milei announced this Thursday, November 14, that it will withdraw the pension that the former Argentine president Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) receives for having occupied the Head of State, after the court confirmed in the second instance the conviction for corruption against her . Her pension will also be withdrawn because she is the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007), reported the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, in his usual press conference at the Executive headquarters.

Adorni reported that Both pensions, both retirement and widowhood, represent a cost of 21.8 million pesos (about $21,800 to the current official exchange rate).

This allowance is non-contributory by Law 24,018 for former presidents and former vice presidents and is granted “on an exceptional and extraordinary basis as compensation for honor, merit and good performance in office,” Adorni stated.

Cristina Fernández “was convicted by the Criminal Court of Cassation for being the author of the crime of fraudulent administration, which represents the opposite of honor, merit and good performance”justified the spokesperson when announcing the decision taken by the Government.

The Argentine Federal Court of Criminal Cassation ratified, in the second instance, a sentence of six years in prison and perpetual disqualification from holding public office issued in 2022 by the Federal Oral Court 2.

That ruling considered that a crime of fraudulent administration had been incurred in the concession of public works in the province of Santa Cruz during the government of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández (2007-2015).

“Retirement for a leader should not exist in Argentina, even more so if the person receiving it is condemned for defrauding Argentines from the highest spheres of power. who saw their hopes disappear at the hands of politics,” explained Adorni.

The presidential spokesperson made this announcement in the middle of the judicial process, since The former president can still appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Justiceso the sentence against her will not be effective until there is a final verdict.

Adorni acknowledged that there is “a certain possibility” that Cristina Fernández will go to court to denounce this fact and added that the former president will be able to continue collecting retirement and pension according to the contributions made to the social security systembut “not this additional for privileges”, alluding to what corresponds to being a former president and widow of a president.

Likewise, he indicated that Milei’s Government “is not going to allocate funds to any person who is convicted of corruption and that it has sullied the honor and dignity of the Argentines.”

The result of the ruling was as anticipated by the former president, who titled a letter written on Tuesday ‘Los Copitos de Comodoro Py’, in reference to the sugar flake sellers accused of trying to murder her in September 2022 and the court that ruled in her against.

“Why are ‘Los Copitos de Comodoro Py’ condemning me? For a crime that as president I could never have committed: that of fraudulent administration in road works, approved by Parliament in the national budgets, tendered, executed and paid for by the government of the province of Santa Cruz and its accountability was approved by the General Auditor’s Office and the National Congress,” Kirchner wrote.

Kirchner compared himself with other presidents or former presidents such as Lula da Silva (Brazil), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Donald Trump (United States) and pointed out that these cases “reveal a network of economic, geopolitical sectors and interests and media that accuse and judicially persecute those who challenge them with a political, economic and social model different from the status quo.

At the same time that the ruling was read, Kirchner participated in an event with hundreds of women in the Buenos Aires town of Moreno. There he said that “they do not tolerate (they do not tolerate) arguing with a woman and that she is right.” “Since they can’t punch me, they do the things they did today in Comodoro Py,” he said.