Rubio bars ex-Argentina president from visiting US, citing 'significant corruption' 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that former Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the country’s former minister are barred from visiting the U.S. due to their involvement in "significant corruption" while in public office. 

Rubio said Friday that Kirchner and former Argentina Minister of Planning 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.” 

“Multiple courts have convicted [Kirchner] and De Vido for corruption, undermining the Argentine people’s and investors’ confidence in Argentina’s future,” the U.S.’s top diplomat said in a statement. 

With the designation, Kirchner, de Vido and their immediate family members will be “generally ineligible for entry into the United States.” 

Kirchner was Argentina’s president from 2007-15, serving two consecutive terms. 

In December 2022, Kirchner, then serving as the South American country’s vice president, was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail and banned for life from holding public office over a $1 billion fraud and corruption scheme. 

A federal appeals court upheld her verdict in November last year. Kirchner has denied wrongdoing. 

While in the Senate, Rubio was one of eight Republican senators who penned a February 2024 letter to former President Biden, alleging he was misusing sanctions against Latin American and Caribbean officials. 

Rubio, then representing Florida, along with Republican Sens. James E. Risch (Idaho), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Tim Scott (S.C.), John Cornyn (Texas), and Rick Scott (Fla.), told Biden he “failed to publicly designate President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her family members following their convictions for fraudulent government contracts for public infrastructure.” 

“The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who abuse public power for personal gain,” Rubio said Friday. “These designations reaffirm our commitment to counter global corruption, including at the highest levels of government.”