The US government banned former Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her immediate family members from entering the country due to her corruption conviction, a move bound to polarize the country’s midterm elections later this year.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s former president and a towering figure in Latin American politics, has been barred from entering the United States, a decision announced with urgency on March 21,

The U.S. State Department on Friday sanctioned former Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner due to her conviction in a $1 billion fraud scheme. Why it matters: While a U.S. senator, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Republicans called for anti-corruption sanctions to be imposed on Kirchner,