FILE PHOTO: Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner stands on a balcony, on the day the Federal Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed a prison sentence on charges of alleged corruption in the awarding of public works during her presidency, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Matias Baglietto/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. on Friday announced that Argentine former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and a former government minister are ineligible for entry into the country, after the two were designated for their "involvement in significant corruption."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Kirchner and former planning minister Julio Miguel De Vido "abused their positions by orchestrating and financially benefitting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government."
The bar on entry also applies to immediate family members of the two, the statement said.
Rubio said that Kirchner and De Vido both undermined "the Argentine people’s and investors’ confidence in Argentina’s future."
Kirchner served two consecutive terms as president from 2007 to 2015, and was vice president from 2019 to 2023.
She has lost popularity in recent years as her legal challenges mounted. Late last year, a court upheld her conviction for doling out state contracts to a friend, carrying with it a six-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban from holding office.
Kirchner has denied wrongdoing and was expected to take the case to the nation's Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Leslie Adler)
