The Puebla Group denounces that former Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez is facing a legal war (lawfare) in a case, motivated by obscure political interests.
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"The Puebla Group regrets and rejects the legal war (lawfare) being waged against Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) in a process plagued with contradictions and motivated by obscure political interests of powerful economic conglomerates," the regional forum states in a communiqué, published Thursday.
On August 2, prosecutor Diego Luciani accused CFK, current senator and vice president of Argentina, of integrating an "illicit association" during her administration (2007-2015), in alleged crimes that began during the previous presidency of her late husband Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) in the province of Santa Cruz.
The trial began on May 21, 2019, featured more than a hundred witnesses and was temporarily suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If convicted, the former president will be politically disqualified.
The Puebla Group denounces a “legal war” against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner | The document was signed by Dilma Rousseff, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Rafael Correa and Fernando Lugo, among others. https://t.co/EYc9XnDQPo
— NOUFEL (@youishear) August 5, 2022
Along this line, the forum that brings together leaders of 17 progressive countries in Latin America and Europe affirms that the action against Fernandez confirms "the risky trend, but unfortunately common to other cases in Latin America against former presidents such as Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil, 2003-2010), Rafael Correa (Ecuador, 2007-2017), Evo Morales (Bolivia, 2006-2019) and Dilma Rousseff (Brazil, 2011-2016), with a common denominator: retaliation for their work on the side of progresse causes".
Finally, it expresses its repudiation of the persecution and warns about "the serious risks it entails for Argentine democracy", according to the text.
The statement was signed by 26 political figures, among them Dilma Rousseff, former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004-2011), former Colombian President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998) and Rafael Correa.