MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK questions Argentina's Independence if subjected to IMF rules

CFK further regretted that Argentina was currently the IMF's largest global debtor

Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (CFK) warned that her country was facing a “real structural problem,” not merely an adjustment or crisis. In a recorded message from the apartment where she is serving a six-year prison sentence for corruption under house arrest played to her followers at the nearby Parque Lezama, she urged Peronists to “defend independence” and seek electoral support to regain power.

 

CFK highlighted that the “worst debt maturities” with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and bondholders would fall upon the next two governments. She asserted that Argentina's current level of dependence, particularly on the IMF, is unprecedented since 1956, following the overthrow of Perón and the initial involvement of the IMF. She thus questioned Argentina's true freedom and independence if it abided by policies dictated from abroad by the IMF.

She also explained that Argentina's debt to the IMF totals over $65 billion (US$45 billion from the [former President Mauricio] Macri administration and at least US$12 billion under Milei, with a promised additional US$8 billion). She characterized the IMF as a “lender of last resort” that “sucks your blood dry.” She further regretted that Argentina was currently the IMF's largest global debtor, calling it an unimaginable disaster. After her message, Kirchner greeted supporters from her balcony.

Meanwhile, Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof, La Cámpora leader Máximo Kirchner, and Frente Renovador leader Sergio Massa met to finalize the electoral strategy for the Buenos Aires Peronist coalition ahead of the Sept. 7 Buenos Aires Province elections.