On the first of September 2022, Argentina reeled as it caught news of a failed assasination attempt on its Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The event occurred outside the current Vice President’s home in Buenos Aires, where a crowd had gathered to cheer her on in the wake of several corruption allegations made against her. According to witnesses and television camera recordings of the incident, a man came up through the crowd and pointed his gun directly at her head, pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire due to a malfunction. 

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is currently navigating a corruption trial with several severe accusations made against her. Questions of irregular economic data during her previous presidency, her role in the Hezbollah terrorist attacks of the 1990s, and her incongruent rise to wealth throughout her career threaten to haunt her impactful legacy as a major figure in Argentinian politics. In light of such information, it is no surprise that Argentinian citizens are experiencing a notable distrust in their elected officials, leading a large portion of the population to believe the assasination attempt was a pre-orchestrated hoax meant to boost the public’s sympathy for Cristina.

Although the conspiracies have not been and may never be confirmed, they shed light on the growing disparities between the Argentinian public’s desires for the future of their country and the intentions of their elected officials. Despite her iconic representation of democracy in Argentinian politics, recent events in Cristina de Kirchner’s career suggest a shift in the public’s adherence to left-wing populist politicians that may change the course of the upcoming general elections. 

Populism has played a key role in Argentina’s political landscape since the late 1940s with the election of Juan Perón. More an ideology than anything, Peronism is a blend of nationalism and labourism operating under three banners of political sovereignty, economic independence, and social justice. Peronists use populist political tactics, appealing to ordinary people who feel their concerns are ignored by those in positions of authority, to concentrate power in the hands of leaders who claim to represent the masses. In the case of Argentina, they have advocated for labor groups, increased wages, and intervened to centralize economic power around the state. 

While many supporters of the movement associate Peronist politicians with democratic reform, the ruthless pursuit of power through popularity has its caveats. Cristina Kirchner’s career is reflective of the disingenuity that accompanies the rule of populist leaders. According to Robert R. Barr, populism is “a mass movement led by an outsider or maverick seeking to gain or maintain power by using anti-establishment appeals and plebiscitarian linkages.” Cristina de Kirchner fits the definition. Coming from a relatively small and unknown province of Patagonia, she was able to present herself as an outsider. Cristina created space between herself and leading Peronists at the time by enforcing the idea that they were leaders of the people, while concurrent politicians were not. Heranti-establishment persona won her the votes, inducing a period of kirchnerismo.

During Cristina’s presidency, Argentina experienced rapid economic growth and thus, the support of the common people came easy for kirchnerismo. One reason why populists like Kirchner are so desired by the public is because of their promise to right the wrongs of globalization and the  effects of financial crises. Those who suffered in the past from repetitive cycles of economic decline believe left-wing populist politicians when they say they will elevate the voices of the poor and improve their living conditions through economic reform. 

Argentina saw a break from Peronism, and in effect, kirchnerismo with the election of Mauricio Macri to the presidency in 2015. Macri’s policies differed from Kirchner’s in that he was a gradualist who wanted to improve Argentina’s standing abroad rather than close the economy off to foreign countries. Unfortunately for Macri, he failed to maintain economic stability and bring down high inflation rates, resulting in the greatest bailout from the IMF in history. This prompted a sentiment in the Argentine public to return to what they knew worked best: Peronism. 

And so, the Peronist Alberto Fernández was elected President with Cristina de Kirchner as his vice president. But do Peronists really do the job better, or are they the only option? 

Cristina Kirchner has managed to stay in influential positions of power throughout her career because of her popularity. Yet, she is on trial for “forming an illicit association and aggravated fraudulent administration” because of alleged irregularities in the awarding of public works projects in her home province of Santa Cruz and for covering up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 terrorist attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Kirchner denies all claims against her, declaring them an “attack on her political career and legacy.” All of which begs the question: are politicians who subscribe to Peronism like her to be trusted any longer? 

Public opinion suggests not. In the lead-up to the last presidential election in Argentina, Pew Research Center found that, out of the Argentine adults who responded to a survey about state and elected officials, 77 percent disagree that the state is run for the benefit of all people. In addition, 72 percent are pessimistic about the way their political system works and 75 percent disagree that most of the elected officials care about what they think. 

The supposed assasination attempt on de Kirchner has not helped remedy the pessimism of the Argentine public. If anything, it highlights the flaws of Peronism. Peronism’s stronghold on the Argentine political structure should have been loosened a long time ago when it became apparent that Peronist politicians were using it to accumulate power rather than effect change. Yet, the party has no opposition, and most voters default to their politicians because they have only seen economic improvement under Peronists. But that is because Peronists are always elected after a span of extreme economic decline, like in the case of Mauricio Macri. The country has reached a point where it needs to shift away from populist leaders like the Peronists to avoid corruption and distribute power among many instead of a few. 

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