Argentina's Kirchner returns as Peronists eye comeback against Milei

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took the helm of the Peronist party on Wednesday, vowing a comeback to take on the highly popular libertarian President Javier Milei, who took office last year.

Kirchner has a daunting task ahead: reuniting the long-standing party that fractured after Milei's election. Until then, Milei was known as an eccentric economic commentator.

Milei promised to oust those he deemed as the political elite and to take a chainsaw to the subsidy-heavy state.

"When you have a crazy-looking neighbor who comes out in his backyard wielding a chainsaw ... even if he swears he won't do anything to me, I'm still going to lock myself in my house," Kirchner said of Milei on Wednesday.

Kirchner ran in the 2019 election as the Peronists' vice presidential candidate, alongside former President Alberto Fernandez.

Milei's approval rates after a year in office remain high as his austerity measures have steadily brought the South American nation's triple-digit inflation rates down.

Kirchner was once the face of Peronism. She served two consecutive terms as president from 2007 to 2015, and was vice president under President Alberto Fernandez from 2019 to 2023.

She has lost popularity in recent years as her legal challenges mounted. Last month, a court upheld her conviction for doling out state contracts to a friend, carrying with it a six-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban from holding office.

Kirchner has denied wrongdoing and is expected to take the case to the nation's Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rod Nickel)