Argentina's former President (2007-2015) and vice-president (2019-2023) Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner waves at supporters from the balcony of her residence where she is serving house arrest in Buenos Aires. Photo by Luis Robayo / AFP
Buenos Aires: Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner, already serving a six-year fraud sentence under house arrest, went on trial Thursday in a new corruption case described as the biggest in her country's history.
The center-left Kirchner, a dominant and polarizing figure in Argentine politics for over two decades, served two terms from 2007-2015.
Her latest trial comes as her ailing Peronist movement -- named after iconic post-war leader Juan Peron -- reels from its stinging defeat at the hands of budget-slashing President Javier Milei's party in last month's midterm elections.
Milei has hailed the result as a vindication of his radical free-market agenda, which the Peronists, champions of state intervention in the economy, vehemently oppose.
The so-called "notebooks" case at the heart of Kirchner's latest trial follows "the biggest ever corruption investigation in Argentina's legal history," according to prosecutor Estele Leon.
It revolves around records kept by a government chauffeur of cash bribes he claims to have delivered from businessmen to government officials between 2003 and 2015.
Kirchner, 72, was first lady from 2003-2007, when her late husband Nestor Kirchner was president.
She succeeded him after his term ended and later served as vice president to Alberto Fernandez from 2019 until 2023, when Milei took office.
She is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that took millions of dollars in bribes from businesspeople in return for the awarding of state contracts.
She appeared at the start of her trial via Zoom from her apartment in Buenos Aires.
A total of 87 people are charged in the case, including dozens of businesspeople and a former minister.
Kirchner's defense team has cast doubt on the credibility of the notebooks at the heart of the prosecution's case, saying the entries were changed over 1,500 times.
Battle over left's future
Kirchner's political career effectively ended in June when the Supreme Court upheld her corruption conviction over the awarding of public works contracts in the southern Patagonia region when she was president.
She was sentenced to six years in prison, which she was allowed serve under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor, and banned from holding public office for the rest of her life.
The charismatic politician, who is revered by many on the left but detested by the right, maintains she is the victim of a right-wing judicial hounding aimed at destroying her career.
Kirchner faces between six and 10 years in prison if convicted at the end of what is expected to be a lengthy trial, and would likely ask again to serve her term under house arrest.
She continues to try to rally her supporters on social media and by appearing regularly on her balcony to greet well-wishers.
Her attempt to retain leadership of the Peronist movement has created tensions with Buenos Aires' popular governor, Axel Kicillof, widely seen as a possible future presidential contender.
"Peronism is going through a leadership crisis," political analyst Raul Timerman told AFP.
