Buenos Aires Herald 
The Argentine government announced on Thursday that it will cancel Cristina Kirchner’s two official pensions. The former president and VP received one of them for her stint as president and the other for being the widow of former President Nestor Kirchner.
The decision, published in the Official Gazette on Friday, comes after a court upheld Kirchner’s ‘Vialidad’ conviction earlier this week.
Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni stated on Thursday that the decision means the state will save AR$21.8 million pesos per month (roughly 20,000 dollars at the MEP rate). He described the presidential pension as an exceptional allocation that is given “as a compensation for honor, merit, and good performance in office.”
“The pension for former presidents is a privilege that should not exist in Argentina, especially if the person who gets it has been convicted of carrying out a fraud from the highest spheres of power against millions of Argentines who have seen their hopes fade away at the hands of politicians,” he added. He also acknowledged that Kirchner will probably take the issue up with the courts.
Milei commented on the decision through social media from Florida, in the United States, where he traveled to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and meet with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
“You reap what you sow,” he posted on X.
In an interview earlier this year, Milei had nevertheless dismissed the possibility of stripping the former president of her pension, which he described as an “acquired right.”
“If I came here to respect property rights, how can I violate an acquired right?” he said.
A “two-bit dictator”
Kirchner responded that same day with an eloquent X post in which she called president Milei a “two-bit dictator.” She ironically asked him if he was trying to establish and preside over an Honor Court to rule on the honor, merit and good performance of former presidents.
“Who is going to sit on that Honor Court? You, your sister and Adorni? Truth is, if you compete in a contest to see who’s the biggest dummy, it’s a tie,” she added and recommended Milei get better counsel.
“A president’s performance can only be judged by Congress through the constitutional process of impeachment, during the exercise of their mandate. For a very simple reason, Milei: only the people, through their representatives, can revoke the honor and merit of having been elected President of the Nation. What part don’t you understand, Milei? It’s basic Constitutional Law. And to think there are people who voted for you believing that you were very wise,” she wrote.
Kirchner also pointed out out that other widows of former presidents like Fernando de la Rúa and Carlos Menem also collect that same pension.
“That pension is given solely for being a president’s widow. You can ask De la Rúa’s widow, who gets the same pension and, as you can imagine, it’s not because of her husband’s good performance in office, since he had to escape on a helicopter from Casa Rosada two years before the end of his term,” she wrote.
“And if you can’t reach her, you can ask Martín Menem, your president of the Chamber of Deputies, why his aunt Zulema, Carlos Menem’s widow, also receives that money, even if he passed away with several charges against him for arms trafficking, illegal bonuses for government officials and whatnot, and even confirmed convictions,” she added.
Human Capital Minister Sandra Pettovello confirmed to Herald sister publication Ámbito that the government will also seek to cancel the pension of Amado Boudou. Boudo sat as Kirchner’s vice president during her second term and is currently serving a Supreme Court-confirmed 5-year-10-month prison sentence for bribery and business negotiations incompatible with public office.
