MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Significantly corrupt CFK banned from entering US

The sanctions also apply to former Planning Minister Julio de Vido, current Congressman Máximo Kirchner, and his sister Florencia Kirchner

The United States declared former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK, 2007-2015), her children Máximo and Florencia Kirchner, and former Planning Minister Julio de Vido significantly corrupt, banning them from entering the country, among other measures, for their involvement in significant corruption during CFK's back-to-back four-year terms.

”Today, I announced the designation under Section 7031(c) of former President of Argentina, Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner, and former Argentine Minister of Planning, Julio Miguel De Vido, for their involvement in significant corruption during their time in public office. The United States is committed to ensuring there’s accountability for corrupt officials around the world,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.

Rubio underlined that CFK and De Vido orchestrated bribery schemes tied to public works contracts, stealing millions from Argentina’s government. Multiple Argentine courts have convicted them of corruption, eroding public and investor trust.

The move aligns with prior calls from Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz during Joseph Biden’s administration to penalize CFK for her ties to China and Iran.

Current Argentine President Javier Milei, an ally of the Republican Donald Trump, celebrated the sanctions on social media, taunting Kirchner with “Che, Cristina,” mocking her for her criticism on social media last week. ( See also: CFK lambasts Milei for deal with IMF   )  

She responded on X by wondering whether Washington's move was due to “a crypto-scam” like the $LIBRA fiasco directly involving the President as well as his sister and Secretary Karina Milei.

“Will my son have sexually abused some journalist or writer in the most expensive store in New York? Or will he have bribed some American prostitute so that she would not make known that he had hired her services because it would harm him in his campaign?”, she added in obvious reference to scandals affecting Trump.

CFK also argued that the sanctions had been issued at Milei's request and recalled that former Military Junta members such as Jorge Videla and Emilio Massera “were never forbidden to enter the US”.

The former 2019-2023 Vice President faces a six-year prison sentence for public works fraud (pending Supreme Court review) and is implicated in other unresolved cases, including money laundering the controversial memorandum with Iran regarding the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) headquarters in Buenos Aires.

Last year, while he was still a Senator, Rubio had petitioned the Biden administration to impose these sanctions against CFK, whom he dubbed “a convicted kleptocrat who stole billions from state coffers and allowed malign actors like China and Iran to concentrate their corrupt influence in a critical ally of the United States, Argentina”. A similar request had been filed by his fellow Republican Senator Ted Cruz.