Cristina Kirchner considers 2027 presidential comeback

Peronist former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is considering a return to power in 2027, saying she would run against current right-wing leader Javier Milei if she recovers her political rights, as she seeks international support to challenge the corruption conviction that has left her under house arrest and banned her from holding public office.

“When I recover my political rights, why not?” Kirchner said in an interview with The Washington Post published on Monday, her first with an international media outlet since her sentencing in June 2025.

Kirchner, 73, and her lawyer, Rafael Valim, have asked the United Nations Human Rights Committee to review her prosecution, arguing that she was denied due process and fundamental rights. 

Their priority is to restore her political rights and overturn her lifetime ban from public office.

The committee can rule on whether a defendant’s rights were violated, but it cannot overturn national court decisions. Argentina, however, is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is obligated to uphold its standards.

Kirchner was sentenced to six years in prison in the Vialidad corruption case, involving a public works contracting scheme in Santa Cruz province during her presidency that prosecutors said benefited a business ally. 

She was acquitted of the separate charge of leading an organization that arranged bribes and overpricing in road construction projects in Patagonia.

She denies wrongdoing and describes the prosecution as politically motivated.

“Tell me where I put the money,” she said. “Because honestly, if I had stolen it, I wouldn’t be in prison. I’d be free, because I would have been able to buy the Argentine judicial system, because they are corrupt.”

A divided Peronist opposition Kirchner’s potential candidacy would further complicate the struggle for leadership within Peronism, the country’s main opposition movement, which has yet to rally behind a single candidate to challenge Milei in 2027.

Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof and former Economy Minister Sergio Massa are both competing to emerge as the movement’s next presidential candidate.

Kirchner remains president of the Justicialist Party, founded 80 years ago by Juan and Eva Perón, and is co-leader of Fuerza Patria (Homeland Force), the largest opposition bloc in the National Congress. 

Recent polls have shown her approval ratings slightly higher than Milei’s, although both remain in the 30s.

She was first lady during her husband Néstor Kirchner’s presidency from 2003 to 2007, before succeeding him and governing for two periods, until 2015. She later served as vice president under Alberto Fernández — who she hand-picked, as she was considered too polarizing to head the ticket — from 2019 to 2023.

Kirchner acknowledged that Peronism contributed to its own defeat in 2023. Under the Fernández administration, annual inflation reached 211% and poverty climbed to 40%, eroding wages and leaving some workers unable to afford basic necessities.

“There was a breakdown in the culture of work,” she told the Washington Post. “People saw that those who worked eight-hour days, endured bosses and long commutes were earning the same or less than neighbors who received government benefits.”

Criticism of Milei’s economic policies In the interview, Kirchner argued that Milei’s government had failed to improve the everyday lives of many Argentines, despite its success in bringing inflation down from the levels it inherited.

“But now many Argentines are frustrated because their lives have not improved, their money doesn’t last until the end of the month, and they see a government that not only does nothing for the poor but actively attacks them,” she said.

Milei has won praise from financial markets for cutting public spending and lifting currency controls as part of his effort to overhaul the economy. But poverty has risen in 2026, as household incomes struggle to keep pace with living costs, while unemployment has also climbed. 

The social costs of his austerity drive have weighed on his political standing, with his approval ratings falling to their lowest levels since he took office.

Kirchner said the challenge for progressives was not simply to regain power, but to understand the anger that had driven voters toward anti-establishment leaders and offer a credible alternative, with proposals that people believe can be implemented, particularly to address everyday economic concerns and debt.

Betting on Trump’s defeat Kirchner also predicted electoral setbacks for United States President Donald Trump and the Republicans in the November 3 midterm elections, hoping they would trigger a broader progressive wave.

“Paradoxically, the man who has done everything to help right-wing governments win in Latin America will lose the elections in his own country,” she said.

She believes that when Milei and other right-wing leaders around the world fail to deliver on their promises, the anti-establishment anger that propelled them to power will turn against them.

“History is not written in straight lines,” she said. “There are advances and setbacks. But the people always come back.”