Protests erupted in Argentina Tuesday after the country’s Supreme Court upheld a six-year prison sentence for former President Cristina Kirchner, who has also been barred from seeking public office following a controversial corruption conviction. Kirchner was a populist leader who was known to be a champion of the poor. Kirchner criticized the ruling and the austerity policies of Argentine President Javier Milei.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner: “I think they are wrong, because they can put me in jail, but people will still receive miserable salaries or lose their jobs. They can put me in jail, but pensions will continue to be insufficient, and people will not make ends meet. They can put me in jail, but medicines are more and more expensive and inaccessible, not only for retirees, but for anyone. They can put me in jail, but parents will continue to believe that their children have the right to eat four meals a day. They can do all that, and still it will not do them any good. It will take more or less time.”