Mauricio Macri on Cristina Kirchner

Mauricio Macri has positioned himself as the primary political opponent to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the broader political movement known as Kirchnerism. His administration, which began in 2015 after defeating the Kirchnerist candidate, immediately sought to reverse the ideological and confrontational foreign policy established by her and her predecessor. Macri's government aimed to end Argentina's isolation from global financial markets, a stance directly counter to the previous administration's declared hostility toward institutions like the IMF and World Bank. He and his allies often characterized Kirchnerism as a significant part of what was deeply flawed with the country's political and economic trajectory, especially after his own re-election bid failed in 2019 against a ticket featuring Kirchner as vice-president.

Following the 2022 failed assassination attempt on Cristina Kirchner, Macri condemned the act but swiftly accused her allies of politicizing the event for partisan gain. He alleged that Kirchnerism was using the violent incident as a pretext to persecute its so-called 'symbolic enemies,' including the press and the judiciary, in order to shield the vice-president from ongoing corruption trials. This indicates that even when facing a serious threat, Macri maintained his core political position, viewing the polarization driven by Kirchnerism as a present danger to democratic institutions.