247 - Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner took advantage of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) visit to her residence in Buenos Aires on Thursday (3) to denounce what she called political persecution and"authoritarian drift" in the country. Cristina is under house arrest after being convicted of corruption, but continues to be politically active and maintains the support of a significant portion of Peronism.
The meeting between the two leaders took place during Lula's visit to the Argentine capital, where he attended the Mercosur summit and assumed the rotating presidency of the bloc. The visit to Cristina's residence was authorized by the local courts, at the request of the former president's defense. Lula arrived at the location around 12:30 p.m., escorted by security guards and greeted with applause by the former president's supporters.
In a post made after the meeting, Cristina set the political tone of the visit and made harsh criticisms of the Argentine Judiciary and the government of President Javier Milei."Today we received comrade Lula in my home, where I am under house arrest by decision of a Judiciary that long ago stopped disguising its political subordination and has transformed itself into a political party at the service of economic power."
Cristina compared her situation to that of Lula, who was also arrested as a result of the Lava Jato operation and later acquitted."Lula was also persecuted, he also suffered lawfare until he was arrested, they also tried to silence him. They didn't succeed. He returned with the vote of the Brazilian people and with his head held high. That's why his visit today was much more than a personal gesture: it was a political act of solidarity," she said.
"The eyes of the world are watching how Argentina is experiencing a genuine authoritarian drift at the hands of Milei's government; in what we can identify as low-intensity state terrorism," he added.
Cristina also denounced the arrests of opposition protesters, highlighting the actions of the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich."Just yesterday, we saw how Bullrich ordered the arrest of several comrades. All of them... women, young people and activists. She did so at the request of José Luis Espert, for whom his opponents only deserve 'jail or bullets', just as we saw on June 18, when they identified and harassed people who were marching towards Plaza de Mayo," she criticized.
The former president ended her message with a warning about the risk of institutional dismantling."It took a lot to build Argentine democracy, but now, step by step, it is being dismantled. However, this same democracy is now being hollowed out from within by a government that calls itself 'libertarian'... but only gives freedom to the richest," she concluded.
