The ruling that marked a turning point
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation unanimously confirmed the criminal conviction against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for corruption in public works. The sentence of six years in prison and permanent disqualification from holding public office is now final and leaves the former president out of any electoral competition.
The decision was signed in an extraordinary meeting by justices Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti, who endorsed the ruling issued by Federal Oral Court No. 2 in December 2022.
The case, known as "Vialidad," investigated the steering of 51 road public works contracts in Santa Cruz, all awarded to Lázaro Báez, a businessman and close friend of the Kirchner couple. The total amount of the contracts exceeds 46,000 million pesos, a scandalous figure even by Kirchnerist standards of fiscal mismanagement.
Cristina Kirchner was found guilty of fraudulent administration to the detriment of the State for allowing, from the Executive Branch, an irregular scheme of contracting, overbilling, and payments for unfinished or nonexistent works. Although the charge of illicit association was dismissed, the ruling places her as a central figure in a structural corruption system that used the State as an instrument of plunder.
The ruling points to her direct responsibility in favoring Báez, convicted in parallel cases for money laundering. The structure remained operational during her two terms and was part of the framework that sustained Kirchnerism for years.
Cristina Kirchner thus becomes the first former president with a final conviction for corruption in democracy. Although she can appeal to international bodies such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, her political future is over. The Supreme Court's confirmation of the ruling not only represents an act of justice but also a signal that political power is not above the law, no matter how many years it has governed or how much power it has concentrated.
