Cristina Fernández De Kirchner on Peronism

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner explicitly identifies as a Peronist and champions the movement, which she argues was responsible for delivering tangible economic improvements and social justice to the Argentine people between 2003 and 2015. She often frames her political project, known as Kirchnerism, as the legitimate continuation of the movement's core tenets, which combine nationalism, laborism, and social welfare, contrasting it with opposing neoliberal models. She sees Peronism as the only viable political force capable of providing for the majority, recalling its past successes when defending against economic downturns.

Her position on the movement has involved defining and redefining its boundaries to maintain political hegemony, sometimes absorbing previously critical or moderate sectors to achieve electoral victory. This pragmatic flexibility, inherent to Peronism itself, allows her to present the ideology as capable of espousing capitalist principles while simultaneously advocating for policies that favor the working class and the poor. However, some within the broader Justicialist Party view Kirchnerism as a specific, sometimes overly centralized, strain that has potentially capped the movement's wider electoral appeal.