An immense crowd of 500,000 people filled Buenos Aires’ iconic Plaza de Mayo on Wednesday (18th) to support former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, vastly exceeding organisers’ expectations. From early morning, demonstrators gathered first at her Constitución neighbourhood residence – where she remains under house arrest – before marching to the city’s political heart.

Amid chants of «We shall return!», a recorded eight-minute message from Fernández de Kirchner echoed unexpectedly through the speakers, making her the event’s sole speaker:

«I stand firm and calm. Though prohibited from addressing you from my balcony… my God, what petty creatures they are!» she quipped, referencing judicial restrictions.

Visibly moved, she thanked supporters: «From my heart, I thank you. Hearing ‘We shall return’ moved me most – it speaks of our will to rebuild a nation where children eat four meals daily, schools provide books and computers, workers save for homes and cars, and pensioners afford medicines.»

«That nation wasn’t utopia – we built it over twelve years. And we left it debt-free,» she asserted.

Lambasting Javier Milei’s «anti-people policies», she equated his economic model to Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship and 1990s neoliberalism, predicting similar collapse: «Economic elites know this model has no future – that’s why I’m imprisoned. But understand this: you may jail me, but you’ll never jail all Argentina. The frightened ones aren’t us – it’s them.»

She targeted Economy Minister Caputo: «That charlatan rents dollars to fake reserves. The economic powers know this model is failing – hence my imprisonment.»

Fernández linked her Supreme Court conviction to «a judiciary serving concentrated economic interests», calling to «reorganise our national movement to expose Argentina’s core problem: an economy enriching few while the majority suffer.»

Invoking collective memory, she concluded: «Today we defend democracy with the tools that built it: non-violence, courage, and profound love for this oft-humbled homeland. Argentines have shown we organise, struggle, and return. I’ve endured assassination attempts and corrupt trials – but we’ll return wiser, united, and stronger. They’ll never possess what we have: our people, our memory, our history, our homeland.»