Argentina

As Argentina marks the beginning of an electoral year, President Alberto Fernandez formally requested that Congress impeach four Supreme Court justices. This follows a ruling last month in which the Court restored federal tax revenues to the opposition-controlled city of Buenos Aires. In the impeachment proceedings, the four justices are accused of violating Article 1 of the Constitution, which is meant to protect federalism in Argentina. The government is expected to present leaked communications as evidence of corruption which are purported to show improper coordination between members of the Court and opposition officials. President Alberto Fernandez claims the ruling was an “unacceptable intervention of the judicial power over other powers in Argentina, demonstrating the outrageous ties between part of the political class and the judiciary.” Opposition Congressmembers have condemned the impeachment request, alleging it is an undemocratic attack on the judiciary by the government. Similarly, Human Rights Watch warned the impeachment process was “an assault on the rule of law”. 

Supreme Court Alberto Fernandez Impeachment

Confrontation between Argentina's Executive power and the Judiciary continued as Vice-President Cristina Fernández was sentenced to six years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office in the ‘Vialidad’ corruption case. The government criticised the ruling, on the eve of which President Alberto Fernández delivered a national broadcast that sought to discredit the judiciary.  Moreover, a potential constitutional crisis appeared to be developing after the federal Frente de Todos (FdT) coalition government led by President Alberto Fernández said it would not comply with a Supreme Court ruling on a tax revenue dispute in the city of Buenos Aires.

Supreme Court Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Alberto Fernandez

Argentina’s federal security forces evicted several Mapuche families from a territory considered sacred by the Indigenous community. Community members had inhabited the areas while demonstrating for better treatment of Indigenous Peoples in the country – part of a long-time struggle by the Mapuche for recognition of their language and cultural heritage, as well as for better economic treatment from the government. The event highlights an escalation in the government’s pressure on the Mapuche community to force them off the lands they claim, as well as the discrimination they continue to face. The operation (ordered by President Alberto Fernández’s government) was widely criticized as arbitrary and as contrary to the Mapuche community's human rights. In protest, Argentina’s minister for women, gender, and diversity, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, resigned and expressed her opposition to the operation.

Indigenous Rights Forced Eviction Alberto Fernandez

The investigation into the assassination attempt of Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández has shone a light on worrying radical groups that have emerged in Argentina out of hatred of the political class. This highlights how aggressive and radicalized politics has become in Latin America. The case has triggered further criticism from the government against the judiciary and media, which, it argues, is biased against Peronism. Some analysts see the attack as a step beyond political polarization, representing general disenchantment with politics as a whole rather than with a specific political position. They argue that mistrust and loss of legitimacy of the institutions of democracy are leading to anger with politicians, highlighting the importance for leading political figures to seek conciliation rather than stoke division.

Political Violence Assassination Polarization Cristina Fernández de Kirchner