Who is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner? Former Argentina president indicted in corruption case – here’s what we know
CRISTINA Fernández de Kirchner has made headlines after being indicted in her native Argentina.
A scandal has been swirling around the ex-president ever since news broke in May 2016 that she faced the possibility of a corruption charge.
It was claimed de Kirchner defrauded the Argentine state out of £3.5billion – a charge that could see her jailed for 20 years.
And in December, charges of illicit association and fraudulent administration were officially brought against her.
Judges froze her £525million assets, accusing her of a slew of offences including “the deliberate seizure of funds principally meant for public road works”.
De Kirchner – indicted alongside former planning minister Julio De Vido and ex-public works secretary Jose Lopez – denies all wrongdoing.
But who exactly is the former Argentine president?
Here’s everything we know…
Who is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner?
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, 63, was born in 1953 in La Plata, Argentina.
She met her husband Nestor Kirchner while they were both studying law the National University of La Plata, marrying in 1975.
The pair fled La Plata for Nestor’s home town of Rio Gallegos when the military seized control of the country the following year.
They became active in electoral politics with the return of democracy seven years later following the fall of brutal dictator Leopoldo Galtieri days after the end of the Falklands War in 1982.
De Kirchner rose through the ranks of the Justicialist Party, being named provincial delegate in 1985 and going on to represent Santa Cruz twice in the Argentine Senate in 1995-7 and 2001-5.
She served as Argentina’s first lady from 2003-7 when Nestor – who had served three consecutive terms as Santa Cruz governor – was elected president.
And she was elected to the presidency herself in 2007 after her husband announced he would not stand again.
She garnered nearly double the votes of her nearest rival Elisa Carrio to become the first female elected president of Argentina.
What kind of president was de Kirchner?
Right from the off, de Kirchner’s presidency was dogged by allegations of corruption.
Immediately after assuming office, she drew criticism from the US, who claimed to have intercepted campaign funds from Venezuelan socialist president Hugo Chavez.
She was also heavily interventionist, which drew mixed responses from the public.
A series of social welfare programs bought her the respect and love of many Argentinians.
But others accuse her of wrecking Argentina’s economy, Latin America’s third biggest, with profligate state spending and heavy-handed trade and currency controls.
One of the great dramas of her presidency came early on when she attempted to control food prices by slapping on new high export taxes, drawing condemnation and nation-wide strikes by farmers’ unions.
Price controls imposed by her administration proved ineffective and she was unable to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.
In international politics, De Kirchner was known for her strong anti-British stance over the Falkland Islands throughout her presidency.
Over her eight-year tenure, she continually baited British Prime Ministers over the islands, demanding they be given back to Argentina.
In 2013, she surprised David Cameron by presenting him with a letter demanding that Britain enter into negotiations over the status of the islands.
She stood down after the end of her second term in office in 2015 – with Argentina’s constitution barring her from standing for a third.
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