In a ruling that is now among the most significant in Argentine judicial history, the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed on Tuesday the conviction of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for corruption in the Vialidad case, also ordering the restitution of an extraordinary sum to the National State: more than 84 billion pesos (over 185 million dollars) must be returned as part of the damage caused by the network of fraudulent schemes carried out during her presidency.
The country's highest court — composed of Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti — unanimously rejected the appeals of the former president's defense and those of eight other convicted individuals, including businessman Lázaro Báez, and upheld the sentence handed down in December 2022 by the Federal Oral Court No. 2, later ratified by the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
This is the first effective conviction against a former Argentine president in a democracy for acts of corruption, which represents a legal, political, and economic blow of enormous magnitude for Cristina Kirchner, who was also permanently disqualified from holding public office.
The central focus of the ruling is the confiscation of 84 billion pesos (over 185 million dollars), a figure that, according to the judiciary, represents the concrete damage caused to public finances through the systematic and targeted awarding of public works contracts in the province of Santa Cruz to companies controlled by Báez, within a corruption scheme orchestrated from political power.
According to the ruling, Cristina Kirchner was criminally co-responsible for the crime of aggravated fraudulent administration. The Court confirmed that, during her terms, administrative acts and presidential decrees were issued to facilitate the diversion of public funds. One of the key instruments was Presidential Decree No. 54/2009, which altered the management of the road trust and allowed the direct awarding of multimillion-dollar projects without proper oversight.
Cristina condenada.
"The institutional design was manipulated to channel funds to companies linked to political power. The irregularities were visible and systematic," the ruling states, holding that advance payments, rigged bids, and unfinished projects were part of a premeditated pattern of state asset stripping.
The confiscation also applies to the other convicted individuals and may be enforced through the seizure and subsequent liquidation of assets, property, and associated accounts. The decision sets a precedent regarding the patrimonial scope of penalties for corruption, incorporating a reparative component that until now was virtually unexplored in the country.
From a political standpoint, the conviction definitively buries the electoral aspirations of Cristina Kirchner, who, at 71 years old, could only hope to serve her sentence under house arrest. The permanent disqualification confirms that, at least through judicial means, her cycle as an institutional figure in the country has ended.
The ruling also reaffirms the validity of the entire process, dismissing any violation of the right to defense or arbitrariness. "The sentence is based on compelling evidence and absolute respect for due process," the Court concludes, dismantling the narrative of political persecution that the former president has repeatedly maintained.
