Yesterday, on the third anniversary of the Sept. 1, 2022 assassination attempt against former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who is now under house arrest at her Buenos Aires apartment, Peronist leaders led what was described as a noisy and joyful “multitudinous” march of militants, including a very large contingent of youth, through the streets of Buenos Aires, from the Peronist Party (PJ) headquarters to the street where Kirchner’s apartment is located. This occurred just days before the Sept. 7 legislative elections in the province of Buenos Aires, in which Kirchner was to have been a congressional candidate had the normally sluggish Supreme Court not ruled at record speed to uphold a six-year prison sentence resulting from a trumped-up corruption case against her in 2022. Not only was she prevented from running in these elections, but she was also banned for life from holding political office. As she said at the time, “they either want me dead or in jail.”
The event attracted people of all ages from all around the city and province. With music and the traditional drums in the background, youth spoke with great emotion but were highly political, as Página 12 reported. As one Peronist youth leader explained, the attempted assassination was an effort “to discipline those of us” who believe in what Cristina does—more educational opportunity for children, dignified pensions for retirees, a more just and equal society. This is the fight that must now be taken to the streets, to schools, clubs, trade unions. Peronist leader Kelly Olmos underscored that for those who came out to support Cristina, this is not merely an electoral matter. “Here the issue is ‘Fatherland yes, colony no!’ For us not to be a colony, we must be up to the task of building the fatherland.’”
