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Argentina: #Nisman was murdered

Alberto Nisman was found dead from a shot in the head in his Buenos Aires apartment on January 18, 2015.

His death has now been declared a murder:

Nisman was found dead one day before he was due to present a complaint to the Argentine Congress accusing leading politicians, including former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, of colluding with Tehran to cover up Iranian culpability for the atrocity. A team of investigators appointed by the Kirchner government concluded — following a controversial investigation that was heavily criticized by Nisman’s family — that the special prosecutor committed suicide using a gun supplied to him by Diego Lagomarsino, a computer specialist employed by Nisman.

But a new report from the Gendarmeria, a federal security force, will put the suicide theory to bed once and for all and show that Nisman was murdered, according to Argentine news outlets. The report’s publication is expected within the next thirty days, the Clarin newspaper said.

Eamonn MacDonagh asserts that this is a major development; long-time readers of this blog know that the case was being investigated as a suicide.

Much as Nisman himself experienced when he began investigating the accusations that President Kirchner had engaged in a cover-up of Iran and its Hezbollah proxy’s responsibility for the AMIA bombing, [prosecutor Eduardo] Taiano has also received threats and warnings not to pursue his inquiries. One text message he received in December last year told him to “stop f__g about with that son of a b__ Jew,” a reference to Nisman, and added, “your days are numbered.”

The complaint Nisman had been due to announce would have implicated Kirchner, former Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other officials in negotiating a secret pact with the Iranians to absolve Tehran of the AMIA bombing. Nisman’s tenacious investigation — including a log of more than 4,000 monitored phone calls — strongly suggested that in doing so, Kirchner and her colleagues were trying to cover their tracks.

The article points out that “MacDonagh cautioned that numerous “legal roadblocks” could still be placed in front of the Nisman investigation.”

On her part, Cristina Kirchner announced that she’s willing to run for senator. It’s not clear whether, if elected, the post would grant her immunity from prosecution on any charges related to the Nisman murder case itself, or from charges arising from Nisman’s investigations.

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Pope Francis is against populists, after he was for them

Pope Francis’s socialist slip continues to show,
On the ‘Invasion’ of ‘Libertarianism,’ Pope Francis’ Ignorance Is Showing. Stephanie Slade writes,

My main critique, which I published here at Reason on the eve of his 2015 visit to the United States, was that the pontiff’s ignorance of basic economics has led him to a bad conclusion about which public policies are best able to reduce the crushing yoke of poverty in the world. I went on to encourage him to consider that, as a matter of empirical fact, markets are the single greatest engine for growth and enrichment that humanity has yet stumbled upon.

Francis believes that “the libertarian individual denies the value of the common good,” and that populism is “the fruit of an egotism that hems people in and prevents them from overcoming and ‘looking beyond’ their own narrow vision.”

Odd words from the guy who entertained in the Vatican iconic left-wing populist Cristina Fernández de Kirchner five times during her tenure as populist president of Argentina.

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Argentina: Cristina charged with money laundering . . . for the 4th time


Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, along with her children, has been charged with money laundering. When the news popped up last week, I thought it was an old news item.

It is, and it isn’t: This is the fourth time she’s been charged with money laundering.

DW has the story:
Argentina ex-President Cristina Kirchner charged with money laundering

Argentina ex-President Cristina Kirchner has been criminally charged for the fourth time, and her passport has been confiscated. The latest charges stem from alleged money laundering in real estate ventures.

I guess she won’t be dropping by the Seychelles any time soon now that they took her passport (link in Spanish). DW continues,

Former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner was formally charged with money laundering and running a criminal association related to real estate dealings, the country’s Judicial Information Service said on Tuesday.

Kirchner, who served as president from 2007 to 2015, already faces trial in a separate case for alleged financial mismanagement in office.

It is the fourth set of criminal charges to beset the former president. Judge Claudio Bonadío said Kirchner was criminally responsible for being part of an illicit association, which she headed, and involved in laundering assets of illicit origin. The charges were aggravated by the fact that Kirchner was a government official and was involved in negotiations incompatible with her position as president, the judge said.

A family affair

Also charged were Kirchner’s two children, Florencia and Maximo, who is currently a member of congress. Businessmen Cristobal Lopez and Lazaro Baez were also prosecuted as head of a company set up by the Kirchners which owned several hotels in Santa Cruz province.

The latest investigation turned up fourteen houses she “never declared” to the anti-corruption or the tax authorities. (How does one manage that, I wonder?)

In addition to the money laundering cases, let’s not forget that Cristina has pending charges for allegedly ordering Argentina’s central bank to illegally trade derivatives, which cost the country $5.5 billion.

$5.50 says she doesn’t serve time.

Cross-posted at WoW! Magazine.

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Argentina: Cristina indicted, again

on corruption charges related to Austral Construcciones, owned by Lázaro Báez involving contracts from 2003-2015.

Former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner Indicted in Corruption Case. Indictment is connected to infrastructure projects awarded to company owned by a close associate

On Tuesday, Judge Ercolini said many of the road projects in Santa Cruz were awarded to construction company Austral Construcciones. The company is owned by businessman Lázaro Báez, with whom the Kirchners had long-standing business ties dating back to when Mr. Kirchner was governor of Santa Cruz in the 1990s.

The judge, who ordered about $640 million in Mrs. Kirchner’s assets be frozen, wrote in the document that the former president had played a chief role in a scheme to divert state resources to Austral.

The document said Mrs. Kirchner and her husband created the institutional setup for the corruption ring to succeed and passed decrees that allowed funds to be directed and controlled so that they reached Mr. Báez through the awarding of public-road works.

The NYT reports,

The charges focus on 52 projects in the southern province of Santa Cruz, where Néstor Kirchner was governor for more than a decade until he became president of Argentina in 2003.

Cristina was also indicted this year on charges that she ordered the country’s central bank to illegally trade derivatives, costing the country about $5.5 billion. She’s under investigation in several other cases.

Related:

Lázaro Báez busted.

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Argentina: Cristina compares herself to Lula

Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner showed up in court to make a statement during her corruption trial.

After piling in on Macri and calling his government “a terrorist organization”,

She also compared her case to that of former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, who is accused of corruption in connection with the state oil firm Petrobras.

Oh dear.

Cristina used the opportunity for an “improvised” rally,

Carlos Cué of Spain’s El País refers to Cristina in the above article as charismatic, even when he realizes that

Kirchner’s supporters admit footage of her former public works boss stashing away $9m has hurt her

Oh, that,

The former president has been called to testify in a kickbacks-for-contracts case in her home province of Santa Cruz, in the south of the country. A judge is investigating allegations she handed lucrative contracts to Lázaro Báez, an imprisoned property developer with close ties to both Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, former President Néstor Kirchner.

Báez is set to appear in court, as is the former head of her Public Works Ministry, José Lopez, who was caught on film in June placing bags containing nearly $9 million inside a convent on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

Indeed, you may recall that last June  Cristina tweeted,

“Somebody gave Lopez the money he was carrying. And it was not me. Nor was it any of the thousands of militants who make up this space.”

All the same, as the BBC reminds us,

In June, a former minister in her government, Jose Lopez, was caught throwing bags filled with almost $9m over the walls of a monastery, and was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

In July, Ms Fernandez’s assets were frozen by a judge in Buenos Aries in connection with the currency transaction allegations.

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The Deplorables Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

In an attempt at demonizing any opposition, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tars the Trump supporters as deplorable and/or clueless, and later tried to walk it back, making what even Mexican media called a half apology.

ARGENTINA
Uber Drivers in Argentina Could Face 10 Days in Jail. Officials Raid Buenos Aires Offices and Plan to Charge them for Operating Without a Permit

Protesters Set Up 100 Soup Kitchens in Argentine Capital. What took them so long?

Nisman’s Iran case reaches new appeal stage

The efforts to reopen the complaint filed by late AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman against former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in January last year will continue this week with a hearing at an appeals court to determine if Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas had reason to deny such a petition from the DAIA Jewish community group last month.

In parallel, Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio has been making progress in an accusation of treason against Fernández de Kirchner and former foreign minister Héctor Timerman in relation to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran.

ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, COLOMBIA:
South America’s Drug Slums: Jurisdiction of Organized Crime

BELIZE
Belize will not support second probe into death of Guatemalan teen

BOLIVIA
Bolivia proposes prison time for illegal coca production

BRAZIL
Upcoming event at Cato: Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country, September 13, 2016, 12:00PM to 1:30PM

If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #Brazillionaires. Follow @CatoEvents on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Rousseff Abandons Brazil’s Capital after Ouster

Brazil’s Attorney General Asks High Court to Allow Abortions for Women With Zika. Brazil’s attorney general is urging the nation’s Supreme Court to permit abortions for pregnant women infected with the Zika virus.

CHILE
Affluent Chile draws migrants but it’s no picnic for them

COLOMBIA
Colombia’s ELN rebels and paramilitary heirs scramble to occupy FARC territory

The Secret History of Colombia’s Paramilitaries and the U.S. War on Drugs. After decades of atrocities, the warlords were finally being held to account. Then the Americans stepped in.

Colombian Condemns Murder of Owner of FARC Transition-Zone Property

CUBA
Cuba’s Walled Garden

House panel will consider bill to halt Cuba flights next week

Sirley Ávila León Cuban Democracy Leader Disappears From Commercial Flight

ECUADOR
Ecuador Begins Drilling for Oil in Pristine Corner of Amazon

Sweden puts pressure on Ecuador over questioning Julian Assange

HAITI
Hillary Cares About You? Ask the Haitians She Ripped Off

JAMAICA
Prince Buster: Jamaica’s True Voice of the People

MEXICO
‘Wolf Boys’: 2 American teens become brutal hitmen for feared Mexican drug cartel

Chinese Billionaire Linked to Giant Aluminum Stockpile in Mexican Desert. U.S. aluminum executives claim Liu Zhongtian, founder of Chinese metals conglomerate China Zhongwang, used a factory in Mexico to game the global trade system

PANAMA
Panama Papers: Denmark to buy leaked data

PUERTO RICO
Latin America’s Largest Sail Training Ship Docks in Puerto Rico

URUGUAY
Abu Wa’el Dhiab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmad Diyab, a.k.a. Abu Wael Dihab, a.k.a. Jihad Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, is still at it:
Hunger-striking ex-Guantanamo inmate leaves Uruguay hospital

Uruguay searching for country to take ex-Guantanamo detainee (emphasis added)

Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab has repeatedly said he is unhappy in Uruguay and is demanding he be allowed to leave the South American country, which took him in with five other former Guantanamo prisoners in 2014.
. . .
Although there’s nothing impeding Dhiab’s family from coming to Uruguay, the former prisoner is against it, Mirza said. “We’d have to ask ourselves why his family could not come to Uruguay when the families of other Guantanamo refugees came here when they wished.”
. . .
Dhiab also says that he feels like a prisoner in Uruguay.

A prisoner who traveled to Argentina, and through Brazil to Venezuela, that is.

VENEZUELA
FROM VOODOO ECONOMICS TO VOODOO

Almost 60 Percent of Venezuelans Say They Want Out



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Argentina: Corradi sings about Cristina’s cabinet

A judge authorized the extradition of drug chief Ibar Pérez Corradi to the U.S., where he faces charges over the shipment of 80 doses of oxycodone to that country by private mail, but another judge moved to block the extradition.

While this goes on, Pérez Corradi is pending trial over the General Rodríguez triple murder of Sebastián Forza, Damian Ferron and Leopoldo Bina, involving methamphetamine trafficking, and he’s talking about the involvement of Cristina Fernández’s cabinet members (emphasis added):
Drug Dealer Claims He Was Under Ex-President Kirchner’s Protection. Corradi Says He Received Three False Identities While on the Run

After four years on the run, Corradi was arrested on Sunday, June 19 in Brazil, where he was expelled and taken to Paraguay. There, he faced charges of impersonation. On July 5, he was extradited to Argentina.
. . .
“I was given protection to disappear,” he said. “The day of the raid, I went through the door of my house and asked a policeman what had happened. And he tells me that they are looking for Pérez Corradi.”

He said those who gave him protection worked with him while trafficking ephedrine. He noted he paid US $750,000 per month to the former Chief of Staff Cristina Kirchner Anibal Fernandez, whom he accused of being involved in the trafficking operation.

He also accused the former head of the Federal Public Revenue Administration (AFIP) Ricardo Echegaray of being involved with the smuggling.

“Smuggling and ephedrine were the business of Echegaray under the protection of Anibal Fernandez,” he said.

Corradi denies being involved in the triple murder,

“I did not kill Forza, Bina and Ferron. I do not know who killed them,” Corradi said. “They had no way to hurt me, to steal my business … it is like a tiny baby came and slapped you; there is no way that would harm me. I had no reason to kill the three of them. If these three dead kids appear, as they appeared, linked to ephedrine, it is obvious that the business was going to fester and it was going to stop being business for everyone.”

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Argentina: The Kirchner money flow a.k.a. #Cristileaks

Last Sunday Jorge Lanata dedicated his show to Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s money flow a.k.a. Cristileaks (video in Spanish),

In brief, Lanata’s investigation alleges that Fernandez and her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, transferred US$492million to 123 sham accounts registered in the state of Nevada during the years they were in office (Néstor from 2003-2010, Cristina from 2010-2015).

In 2014, Lanata had petitioned a Nevada court to release information regarding Kirchner’s companies in the US under a federal statute that allows a party to a legal proceeding outside the United States to ask an American court to obtain evidence for use in the non-US proceeding. The Sunday show calls #Cristileaks a trove of 3,500 pages of documents itemizing the transactions.

The transactions involved banks in the USA, Latvia, Paraguay, Hong Kong, Andorra, and Switzerland (among others) carried by Kirchner proxies, and were managed through Aldyne Ltd. in the Seychelles. The people who served as Kirchner proxies benefited through commissions, pensions, and government contracts.

Additionally, Lanata alleges that U.S. authorities provided Argentina with the information gathered through their money-laundering investigation, and the Argentinian government ignored it. The investigation came about when Argentina refused to honor $50billion worth of defaulting bonds, as bondholders requested the investigation.

Clarín has a detailed report.

Fernandez denies any wrongdoing

“There’s only a small problem with Clarín’s note: They didn’t find an overseas account, nor undeclared or hidden funds, BECAUSE THEY DON’T EXIST.”

Fernandez threatened to sue.

Related:
La Ruta del Dinero K, also at Clarín.

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