Former Argentine president Cristina Fernandez, a leftist who dominated the nation’s politics for years alongside her late husband, has remained a divisive figure since leaving power — and is now seeking public office again.
The 64-year-old is to make a bid for a senate seat in October’s midterm elections, despite facing corruption charges, two top party officials announced on Saturday.
Fernandez took office in 2007, vowing to continue the work started by her husband, Nestor Kirchner, who in 2003 inherited an economy in shambles after what was then the largest sovereign debt default in history.
Since standing down two years ago, she has channeled popular anger against the budget cuts of her successor, Argentine President Mauricio Macri, launching a new party called Citizen Union.
Her supporters hope a seat in the senate might pave the way for a fresh presidential bid in 2019.
It could also spare her jail: The mother of two is being investigated over three sets of corruption charges and faces trial in a fourth case of alleged financial mismanagement as president.
She denies wrongdoing and says the cases are politically motivated.
To her working-class base, Fernandez and her late husband were saviors who rescued Argentina after a 2001 economic crisis and stood up for the nation’s underdogs.
Kirchner turned the nation around thanks to booming demand for agricultural exports and his tough negotiations to restructure most of the nation’s US$100 billion in privately held debt.
A practicing Catholic, Fernandez oversaw a reform in 2010 that made Argentina the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.
After her husband died that year, she defended his legacy and won re-election in 2011.
However, to her opponents, Fernandez is a bully who steered the economy back into recession and embarrassed the nation with attacks against her favorite foes.
Separately, former Argentine president Carlos Menem on Saturday announced he is running for the senate again at age 86, a move that could enable him to continue to dodge prison time over a string of criminal convictions.
President from 1989 to 1999 and a senator since 2005, Menem has been convicted of arms trafficking and corruption, but has so far escaped prison time thanks to his parliamentary immunity.
Menem was once wildly popular for his leadership through a period of rapid economic growth in the 1990s and his fondness for fast cars and women half his age.
However, his popularity plummeted as his key economic policies unraveled after his tenure, culminating in a devastating 2001 crisis that triggered riots.
In 2013, he was sentenced to seven years for trafficking arms to Croatia and Ecuador, a sentence that was upheld this week by Argentina’s top criminal court.
He was in 2015 also convicted of corruption for masterminding the illegal overpayment of high-ranking officials’ salaries.
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