Share

Argentina’s Milagro Sala: Criminal, or “Political Prisoner”?

By Laurence Blair

The controversial imprisonment of a powerful community leader symbolizes Argentina’s painful divorce from Kirchnerist politics.

SAN SALVADOR DE JUJUY – As Argentina’s crucial midterm elections approach, the country’s growing political divides are on full display.

Nowhere is this more clear than in the case of Milagro Sala, a prominent activist in Argentina’s remote northwest who once enjoyed vast influence bolstered by the patronage of then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as well as the thousands of Argentines who benefited from her work.

But weeks after President Mauricio Macri’s election in late 2015, Sala found herself behind bars, charged with sedition and abetment after organizing a...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

Related

Argentina’s Biggest Challenge

It’s not inflation, or a dead politician.

Argentina's Milei Trades Barbs with Mexican and Colombian Leaders, Ratcheting Up Tensions

"Latin America has a long tradition of these food fights between leaders on the left and the right," says AS/COA's Brian Winter to The Associated Press.

Explore