Argentine Ex-president Kirchner Begins Six-year Term Under House Arrest
Argentina's ex-president Cristina Kirchner began serving a six-year fraud sentence under house arrest on Tuesday, after a judge granted her request to avoid prison in a case that dramatically ended her two-decade career.
The Supreme Court last week upheld the 72-year-old's conviction for "fraudulent administration" while president, along with her lifelong ban on holding public office.
Since the ruling, supporters of the polarizing left-winger, who has led opposition to President Javier Milei's austerity policies, had been keeping vigil outside her home in Buenos Aires, raising fears of clashes with security forces if she were jailed.
Her left-wing Peronist movement and trade unions had called for major solidarity demonstrations on Wednesday.
While some protests were still expected the risk of unrest appeared diminished after a federal court ruled Kirchner could serve her sentence at home with an electronic surveillance device.
The court added that Kirchner's sentence began Tuesday and ordered that she "refrain from any behavior that could disturb the peace of the neighborhood and/or disturb the peaceful coexistence of its residents."
She will be allowed limited visits, principally from family members, lawyers and doctors.
Her legal team welcomed the decision to spare her the ignominy of being thrown behind bars.
"THE LAW PREVAILED. THE PEOPLE PREVAILED," one of Kirchner's lawyers, Gregorio Dalbon, reacted on X.
Kirchner rose to prominence as part of a political power couple with her late husband Nestor Kirchner, who preceded her as president.
After two terms at the helm herself between 2007 and 2015, she served as vice president from 2019 to 2023 in the last center-left administration before Javier Milei took power.
Revered by the left, reviled by the right, she claimed the case against her was a political plot to end her career and unravel her legacy of economic and protectionism and generous social programs.
Her supporters pointed to evidence of close ties between some of the judges who convicted her in lower courts and one of her arch-foes, former center-right president Mauricio Macri.
Many Argentines, however, believed her conviction over the awarding of roads works tenders to one of her business associates was just.
She is the second ex-leader since Argentina's transition from dictatorship to democracy in 1983 to be sentenced to prison after Carlos Saul Menem, convicted of weapons trafficking.
Menem never served jail time because he had immunity as a senator. Kirchner's supporters accuse the judges in her case of being part of a right-wing plot to bring down a giant of the Argentine left AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
China Downplayed Nuclear-capable Missile Test: Classified NZ Govt Papers
China tried to mislead foreign governments in 2024 by playing down the importance of a nuclear-capable missile test over the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand diplomats privately warned in documents obtained by AFP. Beijing sent shivers through the South Pacific in September 2024, when its elite Rocket Force fired a dummy warhead into the high seas near French Polynesia. A tranche of classified government briefing notes obtained by AFP shows deep concern within the New Zealand government in the wake of the surprise launch, which China shrugged off as "routine". It was China's first long-range missile launch over international waters in more than 40 years, the papers confirmed, serving as a blunt reminder of Beijing's potent nuclear-strike capabilities. "We are concerned that China is characterising this as a 'routine test'," senior diplomats wrote in a memo to New Zealand's foreign affairs minister. "It is not routine: China has not conducted this type of long-range missile test in over 40 years. "We do not want to see this test repeated." China's military played down the test as a "legitimate and routine arrangement for military training". Behind the scenes, New Zealand diplomats privately decried China's "mischaracterisation". "As this is the first time that China has undertaken such an action in the Pacific in several decades, it is a significant and concerning development," they wrote in one of the briefing documents. AFP applied to access the heavily redacted documents -- written between September and October last year -- under New Zealand's Official Information Act. They were classified as "Restricted", which protects government information with diplomatic or national security implications. China has been seeking to cement its presence in the strategically important South Pacific, showering developing island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads, and gleaming sports stadiums. But rarely has it so obviously flexed its military might in the region, where the United States, Australia and New Zealand have long been the security partners of choice. "We have again asked China why it conducted the test at this time, and why it chose to terminate the missile test in the South Pacific," New Zealand diplomats wrote. China's Rocket Force launched the intercontinental ballistic missile with little warning on September 25, 2024. Photos released by China showed a projectile streaking into the sky from a secret location atop a billowing plume of smoke. It appeared to be one of China's advanced Dong Feng-31 missiles, analysts said, a weapon capable of delivering a thermonuclear warhead. The long-range missile splashed into a patch of ocean long designated a nuclear-free zone under an international treaty. Pacific island nations remain deeply scarred by the nuclear tests that shook the region in the decades following World War II. "This is the first time that we are aware of a test of a nuclear-capable missile terminating within the zone since its establishment in 1986," the New Zealand diplomats wrote. China alerted the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand before the test. But there was only a vague indication of what it would do, according to a separate batch of Australian government documents obtained by AFP. "Beijing advised us of a planned activity the evening prior to the launch, but specific details were not forthcoming," Australian defence officials wrote in November last year. Pacific island nations, however, were not provided with advance notice of the launch, New Zealand diplomats noted. Following the launch, Japan publicly voiced "serious concern", Australia said the test risked "destabilising" the South Pacific, and Fiji urged "respect for our region". Pacific nation Kiribati, one of China's warmest friends in the region, said the South Pacific Ocean should not be a proving ground for jostling big powers. "The high seas in the Pacific are not isolated pockets of oceans... we appeal to all countries involved in weapon testing to stop these acts to maintain world peace and stability," read a government statement at the time. China foreign policy expert Nicholas Khoo said the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test was particularly significant because it took place in the South Pacific. "Since 1980, China's ICBM tests have taken place within Chinese territory," he told AFP. "The test is a reminder to regional states that China is a 'full spectrum' power that has economic and military power. It is a peer with the US." Harvard University researcher Hui Zhang said it was a forceful reminder of China's nuclear strength. "The test shows that the Rocket Force has an operational and credible nuclear force that can help ensure China's ability to maintain a strong nuclear deterrent," he wrote last year for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. "The rare public ICBM test seems to have been specifically aimed at dissuading Washington from using nuclear weapons in a potential conflict across the Taiwan Strait." China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the "facts are clear and no one has been misled". "The missile test is a routine part of annual military training, in compliance with international law and international norms," it said in a statement.
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Canada Needs 'Bold Ambition' To Poach Top US Researchers
Like Europe, Canada is looking to attract top US scientists who may want to evade President Donald Trump's crackdown on universities and research institutions. But to succeed, Canada will need to summon something it has at times lacked, namely "bold ambition," the head of the country's largest hospital chain told AFP. Trump's funding cuts for scientific research are freeing up talent and "creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to recruit, said Kevin Smith, the chief executive of Toronto's University Health Network (UHN). To seize that opportunity, Canada has to ditch its traditional "incrementalist" approach, Smith added. "Let's not say good enough is good enough. Let's say excellent is where we need to go." Experts say Trump's policies could trigger a tectonic shift in the global competition for the world's brightest minds. For decades, deep-pocketed US universities backed by federal support have scooped up talent, including in biomedical research. But Trump's administration has already slashed billions of dollars in research grants affecting various institutions, including most notably Harvard University. Programs affected by the National Institutes of Health's cuts include studies on gender, the health effects of global warming, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. France and the European Union are already trying to woo disgruntled US researchers. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said last month that the EU would launch a new incentives package worth 500 million euros ($577 million) to make the 27-nation bloc "a magnet for researchers". Smith and UHN's vice president for science and research, Brad Wouters, argued that Canada -- and particularly its largest city, Toronto -- are well placed to compete for US talent. English-speaking, culturally familiar, and geographically close to major US research centers in New England and New York, Toronto boasts a hospital network and research ecosystem regularly ranked among the world's best. The city has already poached three high-profile academics from Yale University, although all work in the arts. The group -- who study fascism -- announced last month in a stirring New York Times video that they were leaving the United States to take up positions in Toronto. "I'm leaving to the University of Toronto because I want to do my work without the fear that I will be punished," one of the professors, Jason Stanley, said in the video. Wouters told AFP that since Trump's election, UHN "started to see a talent pool that was a notch higher than what we normally see" for vacant positions, with leading US-based scientists initiating inquiries about opportunities in Toronto. UHN has launched a plan to create 100 medical research positions through its own fundraising but wants institutions across Canada to attract 1,000 new scientists. Reaching that target will require government support, and confronting an ingrained Canadian mindset that prioritizes sharing healthcare resources equally across the vast country. The plan will face "a bit of a collision between the peanut butter spread of equality versus elitism," Smith said. "That isn't always easy for governments or for elected we're pretty hopeful," he added. Matthew Lebo, a political scientist at Ontario's Western University, agreed Trump's policies have created an unprecedented opportunity for brain gain in Canada. But he voiced concern the country wouldn't mobilize. "Canada has a history of being comfortable playing a supporting role," he told AFP. "There is just an inherent lack of ambition." Lebo noted that while some US-based researchers may be concerned about crackdowns on their work, others might eye Canada for personal reasons, including the desire to live in a country where reproductive and LGBTQ rights are more firmly safeguarded. While he hasn't yet seen signs of broad national action, he said "it wouldn't take deep thought to catch up." "It takes some big number (of dollars) and a plan." The CN tower looms over the Toronto skyline AFP
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial Offers Fodder For Influencers And YouTubers
The criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs is now in its sixth week of testimony -- and interest among influencers and YouTubers is still soaring, as online personalities flock to the Manhattan federal courthouse to livestream their musings. Every day, it's the same routine: content creators on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube rub shoulders with legacy media organizations as they set up cell phone tripods and stage their shows, enthusiastically relaying their hot takes. The trial of Combs, once a titan of the music industry who faces life in prison if convicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, can't be broadcast. The federal courthouse doesn't allow cameras, laptops, phones or even wireless headphones inside. So, alongside the many journalists covering the trial, influencers hustle in and out of the courthouse throughout the day to recount the proceedings beat by beat, dropping off and picking up their electronics at security each time. One woman who goes by the TikTok name "KealoHalika" said in the first two days of testimony she earned an estimated 10,500 followers; her account now has 40,500 followers. "It was like craziness," she told AFP outside the courthouse. "It's been a lot of moving pieces. It's definitely changed my life." Combs is incarcerated and doesn't enter or exit the courthouse publicly. But some of the high-profile attendees and witnesses do, including members of the music mogul's family and figures like Kid Cudi, the rapper who testified that Combs's entourage torched his car. These paparazzi-esque arrivals and exits are catnip for content creators to in turn feed their followers. The brief cameo of Ye, who stopped by to lend his "support" to Combs amid the proceedings, was a particular field day for the chronically online. Donat Ricketts, a 32-year-old artist from Los Angeles, was a regular at the high-profile Tory Lanez and A$AP Rocky trials in California. He told AFP he makes between $8,000 and $10,000 a month, including through YouTube's ad revenue program and fan donations. "This is my first time traveling to another state to cover a case," said the creator with about 50,000 YouTube subscribers. "It feels like vacation, plus I'm being able to work and make money from YouTube." Ricketts didn't study journalism -- but he thinks his "big personality" and ability to relate to online viewers sets him apart. "This case is the turning point where mainstream media knows that the 'independent journalists' are a force to be reckoned with," he said. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, one in five Americans get news from influencers online; for people under 30, the share jumps to 37 percent. Reece Peck, a professor of political communication and journalism at the City University of New York, called the competition among content creators "Darwinian." "They're so scared of losing their clientele or their audience. And so with that logic, that you have to constantly create content, the news cycle is such an attractive source of material," Peck told AFP. And the Combs trial is a fount, he said: "It's sex, it's violence, and it's celebrity." Emilie Hagen said she does have a journalism degree but these days publishes via her Substack, also putting out content on Instagram and TikTok. "I'm there every day providing humorous updates," she told AFP of the Combs trial. Dozens of traditional media outlets are providing coverage and analysis of the trial. But Hagen said she's "able to go down rabbit holes that they're not allowed to go down." "I don't have to stick to the daily recap," she said. "I can insert a personal narrative." Many of her most fruitful videos are of "me interacting with all of the wild people that come to the trial outside the courthouse," she added. Hagen said she's notched 12,000 more Instagram followers and 10,000 more on TikTok since proceedings began. She said some fans have donated, which recently allowed her to hire a linesitter. Getting into the main courtroom, as opposed to overflow rooms with video feeds of the trial, can require either arriving overnight or the day prior, and many influencers along with media outlets like ABC News and The New York Times hire people to hold spots. But even with the deluge of news updates from media outlets and content streams from influencers, some people still want to see the trial for themselves. Val Solit, a teacher from Los Angeles on vacation to New York, dropped by the proceedings after having lunch in nearby Chinatown with her partner. "I like crime and dramas," she told AFP, likening the hype to the 1990s-era trial of O.J. Simpson. "It was kind of fascinating to come and see it." "It's history in the making." arb-mdo/ksb Getting into the main courtroom of the trial of Sean Combs, as opposed to overflow rooms with video feeds, can require either arriving overnight or the day prior, offering big business for linesitters AFP Rapper Kid Cudi leaves federal court after testifying at the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial AFP The criminal trial of Sean Combs has influencers and YouTubers flocking to the courthouse and relaying the scene to their online fanbases AFP The Sean Combs trial has been a fount of content for influencers and YouTubers to put on their channels AFP A man livestreams outside the Manhattan federal courthouse, where Sean "Diddy" Combs is on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges AFP
