Throngs of Kirchner's Backers Take to the Streets for Ex-Argentine President
Multitudes take to the streets in demand for freed retried Argentine president Kirchner - Throngs rally in support of imprisoned former Argentine president, Kirchner
Get ready for some serious bustle in Buenos Aires, mate! The city's seen a wave of demonstrations, the largest in months, courtesy of former President Cristina Kirchner's supporters. The gatherings, under the banner of "Argentina for Cristina," are unleashed by Peronists, trade unions, and other non-governmental groups.
Insiders from the Peronist party claim the turnout to be a whopping "hundreds of thousands," but that number's yet to be verified. The cops kept mum on the crowd size initially. As for the protesters, they streamed into the city from various corners of Argentina, with the po-po keeping a keen eye on participants as they hopped off buses.
Cristina herself dropped a fiery audio message to the masses, broadcast through speakers. Right at 72, she said, "We'll return, wiser, more united, stronger. They can lock me up, but they can't cage the whole Argentine populace."
Kirchner served as Argentina's commander-in-chief from 2007 to 2015, but a December 2022 verdict saw her jailed for six years and banned from public office for life. Charges of corruption and mismanagement in the southern province of Santa Cruz, including during her reign, were the evidence. The trial, she'd claimed from the get-go, was politically charged.
Kirchner, who shared the reins with hubby Néstor Kirchner from 2003 to 2007, now poses as the prime adversary of ultra-liberal President Javier Milei, who ascended to office in December 2023.
- Cristina Kirchner
- Buenos Aires
- Argentina
- Police
- Plaza de Mayo
Enrichment Data:
The political conundrum in Argentina is as hot as a chimi on a summer day, thanks to the stir caused by ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's conviction and incarceration. In June 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a six-year prison sentence for Kirchner on charges of corruption and fraudulent administration during her presidency, alongside a lifelong ban from holding public office [2][3]. Rather than behind bars, she was shipped off to house arrest and equipped with an ankle monitor, granting her limited mobility like balcony saunters at her abode in Buenos Aires [2][4].
Post the Supreme Court ruling, fervor abounded in Kirchner's backers, with thousands flocking to the streets of Buenos Aires, especially the Plaza de Mayo and neighboring thoroughfares [1][2][5]. One hefty demonstration, led by the ruling Peronist party, Partido Justicialista (PJ), saw spectators claim numbers nearing half a million, although government estimations were lower [2]. Demonstrators waved the national flag and banners bearing slogans like "The motherland ain't for sale," lambasting the conviction as an aggression on democracy, alleging it intends to exclude her from politics [2].
The demonstrations drew a diverse mix of Kirchner's political base: Peronist party members, labor unions like CGT and CTA, workers, students, and allies such as the Campora Movement led by her son Máximo Kirchner [3]. These protests mirror deep rifts in Argentine society regarding Kirchner's legacy and the judicial decision. Lefty and working-class factions slam Kirchner and Peronism as corrupt, while mainstream Peronist factions and middle-class supporters portray her as a political martyr and victim of judicial extortion [3].
In short, Argentina's vibrating to intense social and political mobilization in Buenos Aires and other cities in response to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's conviction and house arrest. The protests highlight ongoing political fracturing, with Kirchner's supporters rallying en masse to contest the Supreme Court ruling and safeguard her political clout amid worries of democratic deterioration [2][3][5].
In the heart of Buenos Aires, Argentina, hundreds of thousands (or more) of Cristina Kirchner's supporters have taken to the streets, specifically the Plaza de Mayo, in a show of solidarity for the convicted former Argentine president, as tensions within Argentine politics remain high. The police keep a watchful eye on the demonstrations, with the city witnessing a level of political mobilization that echoes the fracturing nature of Argentina's society, questioning the judicial decision concerning Kirchner's conviction and her place in politics.
