Argentina’s former president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who is already serving a six-year sentence for fraud under house arrest, is set to face trial again on Thursday in a separate corruption case involving millions of dollars in alleged bribes.
Kirchner, a central and polarizing figure in Argentine politics for over 20 years, served as president from 2007 to 2015 after her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, held the same office from 2003 to 2007. Her new trial begins as her long-dominant Peronist movement struggles to recover from a major defeat in last month’s midterm elections to right-wing President Javier Milei’s party.
Milei has celebrated the outcome as a public endorsement of his aggressive free-market reforms, policies sharply opposed by the Peronists, who have historically favored strong state intervention in the economy.
The case, widely known as the “notebooks” scandal, centers on detailed records kept by a former government chauffeur. The driver claims the notebooks document years of illicit cash deliveries from business leaders to senior government officials between 2003 and 2015, a period covering both Néstor and Cristina Kirchner’s presidencies.
The 72-year-old former leader, who also served as vice president under Alberto Fernández from 2019 to 2023, is accused of heading a criminal network that allegedly accepted large bribes from businesspeople seeking lucrative government contracts.
In total, 87 people have been indicted in the case, including a former minister and several deputy officials. Kirchner, who has been under house arrest in Buenos Aires since June with an electronic ankle monitor following her conviction for “fraudulent administration,” insists she is being targeted by a politically motivated judiciary.
It remains uncertain whether she will appear in court in person or attend the proceedings via video link from her residence. If convicted, she could face an additional prison sentence of six to ten years, depending on the court’s ruling after what is expected to be a prolonged trial.
Her defense team has challenged the authenticity of the chauffeur’s notebooks, arguing that the entries were altered more than 1,500 times, making them unreliable as evidence.
What You Should Know
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner remains one of Argentina’s most influential yet controversial leaders.
Once celebrated for her populist policies, she now battles multiple corruption charges that threaten to overshadow her political legacy.
The “notebooks” trial adds to the turmoil facing Argentina’s Peronist movement, already weakened by recent electoral losses and internal divisions under President Javier Milei’s rising influence.
