Cristina Fernández returns to the center of the electoral scene in a bid against Macri

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (c) at the closing ceremony at the Monument to the Flag in Rosario (Argentina). EFE / Franco Trovato Fuoco

EFE

Argentine former President Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) returned to the center of the electoral scene on Wednesday, with a mass act in which she remarked that it is "imperative" that her formula partner, the Peronist Alberto Fernández, be the next president of the country and put an end to the Government of Mauricio Macri.

The current senator and candidate for vice president for the Frente de Todos was the true protagonist of the act that, along with Alberto Fernández, other candidates of the opposition force and several allied governors, made in Rosario, the third most populous city in Argentina and a square key election

"The Argentines on foot urgently need that as of December 10 there is another government in Argentina and that has to be with Alberto Fernández president," said the former president, cheered by a crowd gathered at the foot of the Monument to the Flag, in Rosario.

Fernández, who is prosecuted in several cases for alleged corruption, questioned Macri's policies, who will seek re-election in October, and said that when she left Casa Rosada, at the end of 2015, she did not think of "seeing so many people, families, living in the streets."

She argued that since the ruling party they promoted the divisions among the Argentines and recognized that even she distanced herself from some Peronist leaders with whom she now rejoined in the face of the primaries on Sunday.

"If you look at recent history, you will be able to clearly notice how they were gradually dividing and confronting us to finally reach the Government to do this that, really, nobody expected in this depth of abuse," she said.

The "turning point," according to the senator, was the decision of the Macri Government to agree in 2018 with the International Monetary Fund a debt of 56.3 billion dollars, a step that convinced the Peronist leaders of the need to "rebuild the national unity to re-rule the country."

The ex-president, the main opposition leader of Argentina, beyond supporting Alberto Fernández in the presidential formula, said that no political leader sleeps on the street or eats once a day.

"The people who pass these hardships are the people. Then the leaders have a moral, ethical and democratic obligation to put an end to this situation," she said.

The act was closed by Alberto Fernández himself, who was head of the Argentine Cabinet between 2003 and 2008, during the governments of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández.

Also read: President of Honduras denies having used drug money in presidential campaign

The candidate, who leads Macri by a small margin in the polls, praised the senator for electing him to head the presidential formula and promised not to fight "ever again" with the political leader.

She harshly criticized the Government for the state of the economy, in recession since April 2018, with high inflation rates and rising poverty and unemployment rates.

She said that "the only thing that Macri has produced is 4 and a half million poor," something that "Argentina cannot stand" anymore.

"Every Argentine well knows that the reality that has been created is an indecency. We are going to put Argentina on its feet, as I did with Nestor (Kirchner) back in 2003," promised the presidential candidate, who will close his campaign in Córdoba, the second largest electoral district in the country, but without the presence of Cristina Fernández.

In Cordoba, she led a Macri election act on Wednesday, who asked him to vote on Sunday to end a "political uncertainty" that "hurts" Argentina.

"This doubt that is inside and outside the country, about whether we understand what the course is, hurts us. The sooner we confirm that we are going forward, the sooner we will achieve it. That is why I want to ask you this Sunday to accompany us with your I vote to move forward, so that we can prove that Argentines, together, are unstoppable, "said the head of state.

Macri will close its campaign on Thursday in the Buenos Aires town of Vicente López, on the northern periphery of the capital, the last attempt to get votes for the primaries next Sunday, which will define which candidates are qualified to compete in the elections of 27 October.