MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Court orders Argentina to restore Cristina Kirchner's widow's pension

The reinstatement covers only the pension derived from the death of former President Néstor Kirchner

Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will again receive, starting in August, a widow's pension of about 15.7 million pesos gross per month (around 12,000 dollars at the official exchange rate), following a court injunction that ordered the benefit provisionally reinstated after it was suspended in late 2024 in the wake of her corruption conviction.

The National Social Security Administration (ANSES) said it would comply with the order beginning with the August payment, while noting that it will continue to appeal the decision before the Supreme Court. The payment is provisional, includes no retroactive amounts or interest, and will remain in place until the courts rule on the substance of the case: whether the administrative decision to cancel the benefit was valid.

The reinstatement covers only the pension derived from the death of former President Néstor Kirchner. The other allowance the former leader received — the lifetime pension for having served as president, provided, like the first, under Law 24,018 — remains suspended. Both benefits had been cancelled in November 2024, after Fernández de Kirchner's conviction in the Vialidad case. In that proceeding, the Supreme Court upheld a six-year prison sentence — which she is serving under house arrest — and a lifetime ban from holding public office, for fraudulent administration to the detriment of the state.

Chamber III of the Federal Social Security Court authorized the provisional payment in February, finding that the benefit is of a subsistence nature, without ruling in depth on the effect of the criminal conviction on the collection of pension benefits. To obtain the reinstatement, the former president posted a sworn bond, a commitment to return the funds if the final ruling goes against her. ANSES had sought a broader financial guarantee, which the court deemed unnecessary.

The country's attorney general, Eduardo Casal, challenged the measure and held that the Supreme Court should intervene. In his view, the criminal conviction bars the collection of this type of income, and keeping the injunction in place would undermine the principle of res judicata. The high court has not yet decided whether it will take up the case.

The case revived a recurring debate in Argentina over special allowances for former officials. Fernández de Kirchner's camp argues that it is an acquired pension right, while critics object to maintaining such benefits, particularly following a final conviction.