March 22, (THEWILL) – The United States has barred Argentina’s former President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, from entering the country over her involvement in what it described as “significant corruption.”
In a statement on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Kirchner’s former Planning Minister, Julio de Vido, had also been banned, along with members of their immediate families.
“Kirchner and De Vido abused their positions by orchestrating and financially benefiting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government,” Rubio said, adding that “multiple courts” had convicted the Argentine leaders of corruption.
Kirchner, who served as Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015, was sentenced to six years in prison and given a lifetime ban from public office in 2022 on fraud charges. An Argentine appeals court upheld the conviction last year, and she is expected to take her appeal to the country’s Supreme Court.
Reacting to the ban in a post on X, Kirchner accused the Trump administration of aligning with Argentina’s right-wing politicians, including former President Mauricio Macri.
“They never banned Argentina’s military junta leaders from entering the U.S.,” she wrote, calling on her supporters to march on Monday, the anniversary of Argentina’s 1976 military coup.
Meanwhile, in a sweeping move late Friday, President Donald Trump revoked the security clearances of several prominent Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The decision follows Trump’s earlier revocation of former President Joe Biden’s security clearance last month.
In a memo released by the White House, Trump stated that he was also rescinding the security clearances of the entire Biden family, along with former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, former White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, former Rep. Liz Cheney, former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen, and attorney Mark Zaid.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump wrote in the memo.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revoked the security clearances of multiple former officials, including retired Gen. Mark Milley and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
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