Argentina’s former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, already serving a six-year sentence for fraud under house arrest, is set to go on trial Thursday, November 6, in a separate corruption case alleging she accepted millions in bribes.
The 72-year-old, a central figure in Argentine politics for over two decades, led the country from 2007 to 2015 and later returned to government as vice president from 2019 to 2023. Her trial begins amid turmoil within her Peronist movement following a major electoral defeat by President Javier Milei’s right-wing coalition in last month’s midterms.
The case known as the “notebooks” scandal stems from handwritten logs kept by a government chauffeur who claims he ferried cash bribes from business leaders to top officials between 2003 and 2015, spanning both Néstor and Cristina Kirchner’s presidencies. Prosecutors allege she headed a network that exchanged public contracts for kickbacks. Eighty-seven individuals, including a former federal minister and several lower-ranking officials, have also been indicted.
Kirchner, who has been confined to her Buenos Aires home with an electronic ankle monitor since her June conviction for “fraudulent administration,” maintains her innocence and calls the charges politically driven. Her legal team has questioned the authenticity of the notebooks, asserting that more than 1,500 alterations were made to the records.
It is not yet known whether Kirchner will appear in court in person or via video link. If found guilty, she faces an additional prison term of six to ten years.
