5 Republican senators ask Joe Biden to sanction Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for her “significant” acts of corruption

Five Republican senators asked President Joe Biden to take measures to sanction Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the former president and former vice president of Argentina, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison for serious acts of corruption in her country and was also politically disqualified for life.

"We write to request that you take immediate steps to hold accountable Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner, the former vice president of Argentina, and her family members for acts of significant corruption. It is critical that you continue to strengthen bilateral relations with Argentina, including by countering mutual security threats posed by corruption," wrote Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Jim Risch, Rick Scott, John Cornyn and Bill Hagerty.

U.S. Senators They ask for sanctions against CFK by emmanuel.rondon on Scribd

CFK, as Cristina Kirchner is known, is one of the prominent faces of the Argentine left and a fierce adversary of the new libertarian president, Javier Milei.

According to the senators, CFK, in addition to committing acts of corruption, was a key player in distancing Argentina from the United States and forging more intimate relations with the country's enemies, Iran and China.

"Fernández de Kirchner, who served as president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015, is a convicted kleptocrat who stole billions from state coffers and enabled malign actors like China and Iran to deepen their corrupt influence in a critical U.S. ally, Argentina," said the senators, who later mentioned the cases and sentences that affected CFK after decades in public administration.

"On December 6, 2022, Fernández de Kirchner was found guilty of overseeing and profiting over $1 billion from fraudulently issued government contracts for public infrastructure during her time as president," the senators wrote, pointing out that in this case, CFK was sentenced to six years in prison and barred from holding office again.

The senators also mentioned that the Argentine federal appeals court reopened the "Route of the K money" money laundering investigation against CFK. Lázaro Báez, one of her closest collaborators, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for this case.

Likewise, in September, Argentina's Federal Criminal Cassation Court, the country's highest criminal court, "reopened two other notorious corruption cases against Fernández de Kirchner and ordered oral trial proceedings to be held," the senators noted.

"The first is the 'Hotesur-Los Sauces,' a corruption probe implicating Fernández de Kirchner and nearly 30 others, including her adult children Máximo Carlos and Florencia Kirchner, for using their family businesses for money laundering, illegal association, and receipt of illegal payments for public works projects issued during her presidency," they added.

In that regard, Republicans called on President Biden to make available the tools under Presidential Proclamation 7750 and Section 7031(c) of the Department of State Appropriations Act to sanction CFK and her family members for serious corruption.