Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof made a prominent public appearance together at the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo’s 47th-anniversary celebration in La Plata on Wednesday night.
After some vicious barbs within Justicialista Party ranks, the joint outing was read as an attempt to show unity between Peronism’s most important leaders — but not everyone is convinced.
Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo), the human rights group that searches for children illegally appropriated during Argentina’s last dictatorship, held an event to celebrate its 47th anniversary at the Teatro Argentino theater in the provincial capital.
Front and center were Kirchner, clad in a pastel-pink suit and cooling off with a red fan, and Kicillof, who donned black-rimmed spectacles to watch the proceedings. They sat on either side of Grandmother’s President Estela de Carlotto.
Also in the front row was former Interior Minister Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, whose parents were disappeared by the dictatorship, and who was kidnapped alongside his family while he was a small child.
In an event lasting around an hour and a half, the association played videos celebrating their work searching for appropriated children, highlighting the importance of the right to identity, and commemorating the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo who have passed away over the past year. Musicians and actors, including cumbia group La Delio Valdez and rapper Shitstem, performed and were presented with the Mothers’ and Grandmothers’ iconic white handkerchiefs.
Once the acts were over, Kirchner, Kicillof, and de Pedro took the stage together with the recovered grandchildren and their extended families. De Carlotto said that the Argentine people needed unity, in an exhortation for the Kirchnerist leadership to bury the hatchet. The group posed together for photos.
The conflict confuses commentators
As her ardent fans screamed their support, Kirchner took the microphone. “When I see you, I remember […] the things that happened here in the city of La Plata, and when I see these women and the grandchildren, I’m seeing him [ex-President Néstor Kirchner, her late husband] in every one of you,” she told the audience and abuelas alike.
Then, Kicillof took the microphone, saying: “What better place to hold this event than a theater recovered from right-wing neglect?” before yelling: “Memory, truth, and justice! [The disappeared] are 30,000!”
But in radio interviews on Thursday morning, De Carlotto said that Kicillof and Kirchner hardly spoke to each other during the event and that there was “tremendous coldness” between them.
What’s driving the infighting has confused and perplexed even seasoned political commentators. Recent points of pain include Kicillof not calling for the Justicialista bases to fall in line behind Kirchner in the upcoming party elections — an indication that he will not automatically back his former mentor’s positions.
In a first, the question of who will lead the party will be put to a vote, with Kirchner running against La Rioja governor Ricardo Quintela, after Justicialista party leaders failed to agree on a candidate among themselves.
Kirchner indirectly described Kicillof as “Pontius Pilate” in the run-up to the deadline for declaring candidacies for the party’s elections.
Within Kirchnerism, a longstanding rivalry between Kicillof and Cristina’s son Máximo Kirchner is also splitting the bases. This has sometimes been described as a battle between Cristina’s son and her political protegé. Máximo is a national deputy, but unlike Kicillof, has never held senior cabinet positions or governorships. He has never run on a presidential ticket, either — an indication that the party leadership doesn’t believe he commands enough votes to field as a candidate.
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Kicillof was Cristina’s Economy Minister between 2013 and 2015 and emerged as a heavyweight after defeating PRO rising star Maria Eugenia Vidal for the crucial Buenos Aires Province governorship in 2019. His name was in the ring as a possible presidential candidate in 2023, but he declined to run, despite pressure from Máximo, in a first rebellion against Cristina. He was re-elected governor by a landslide.
Peronism as a whole is also facing broader divisions. Supporters close to Kirchner and Kicillof tend to espouse progressive and left-leaning views. However, conservative provincial Peronists, including the governors Osvaldo Jaldo (Tucumán), Raúl Jalil (Catamarca), Gustavo Sáenz (Salta), and Hugo Passalaqua (Misiones) are members of the Justicialista Party, but have supported Milei on key issues such as his veto on university funding.
Now, all eyes are on the path to the Justicialista elections on November 17. A victory for Quintela, a small name compared with former two-term President and Vice President Cristina, would be an earthquake for the party. Ultimately, the leadership will likely be negotiated, to avoid the internal strife of holding elections. As Argentina’s opposition scrambles for a leader, the real lesson could be what happens along the way.
Cover image: Cristina Kirchner, Estela de Carlotto and Kicillof at the Abuelas’ 47th birthday. Credit: Cristina Kirchner’s X account