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Argentina’s Most Powerful Politician Faces a Verdict in Corruption Trial


EL CHALTEN, Argentina – Along the gritty road that cuts through southern Argentina, a bright blue billboard stands out across the vast Patagonian steppe. It announced that the Route 288 project, which at the time cost about 572 million Argentine pesos, or about $119 million, would be completed in 2016.

Six years later, there are more gravel than sidewalks and crickets louder than the rumble of a car engine.

That road and other unfinished highways like it now threaten Argentina’s most famous and powerful politician, whose leftist political style has dominated the country for two decades.

On Tuesday, the verdict in the case of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s former president and current vice president, is expected to be decided by a panel of three judges on charges of aggravated fraud and directs an “illegal association” to oversee a kickback scheme. associated with construction.

Ms. Kirchner is accused of directing hundreds of millions of taxpayer-funded contracts for a business partner and family friend to build roads in this remote part of Patagonia, on tip of South America – projects are often unfinished or seriously bankrupt. budget.

Federal prosecutors are seeking Kirchner for 12 years in prison and bar her from public office, although even if she is found guilty, she can still appeal the sentence and run for office in the meantime. Argentina’s next presidential election is scheduled for next year, although Ms. Kirchner has not indicated whether she intends to run.

The trial is the latest blow to Ms Kirchner, who has been investigated for about a dozen crimes, mostly related to corruption, although four were dismissed and she was acquitted in two others. . But no investigation has come to trial – until this one.

A conviction could deal the biggest blow to her credibility and reinforce the difficulty she’s had in attracting a wider audience.

Kirchner has had 30 years of public appearances, including as first lady, president, and currently a senator and vice president. She is a deeply divisive figure who has helped divide Argentina between her supporters and her leftist movement, known as Kirchnerismo, and those who say she has helped ruin a country that is struggling, regardless of the government in power, with high inflation, poverty. and failed economic policies.

She has repeatedly denied all charges and in her final remarks to the jury last week, she called the court a “shooting squad”.

“They slandered, lied and insulted me and our government,” she said.

She also stated that the trial set the stage for assassination plot against her in September, when a man joined a protest outside her apartment in Buenos Aires, pointed a gun at her head and pulled the trigger, even though the gun didn’t fire.

Two have been charged with attempted murder, and a third has been charged with aiding them.

Lucas Romero, a political scientist and director of public opinion firm Synopsis Consultants in Buenos Aires, said a guilty verdict against the vice president could lead to both stories.

“Those who criticize her and have a negative image of her, they will confirm what they suspected: She is guilty, she is corrupt,” he said. “And the people who follow her, sympathize with her, who have very strong feelings for her, they will say this affirms that they are persecuting her.”

That divide is stark in the Patagonian village of El Chaltén, whose 1,700 inhabitants are expected to benefit from unfinished road projects tied to Kirchner’s case.

Dante Ardenghi, 65, a local doctor, said he believes the media and opposition parties fabricated or exaggerated allegations against Ms. Kirchner to bring down her political movement.

What they really believe, he said, is that leftist presidents “shouldn’t exist in South America.”

But Luis Ledesma, 59, a substitute high school teacher, said he thought the Kirchners were corrupt.

“Everybody who is close or allied in some way to this close group of people becomes rich in a very short time,” he said. “We’re talking about the secretary, the driver.”

Across Patagonia, unfinished roads are in danger. Antonio Flauzino, a Brazilian motorcycle rider on a 3,300-mile trip through Argentina, fell off his bike on another unpaved highway. It was his first accident on the two-week trip.

“I’ve heard stories, people say this part is very difficult,” he said. Motorcyclists call this stretch of gravel the “cursed 73 kilometers” because of its condition and the high-speed winds in the area.

“But I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he said.

The purported kickback scheme Kirchner allegedly oversees occurred in Santa Cruz province during the Kirchner family’s 12 years as president: Kirchner’s late husband, Néstor Kirchner, served from 2003 to 2007 and Ms. Kirchner from 2007 to 2015.

Santa Cruz has always been their political stronghold: Mr. Kirchner was born in the capital, Rio Gallegos and served as governor of the province from 1991 to 2003. His sister, Alicia Kirchner, is the current governor.

Twelve other people were also charged in the corruption case including Lázaro Báez, an associate of Kirchner who received the road construction contracts, and two former ministers of the Kirchnerista government, who were convicted in the cases. other corruption cases.

Mr Báez is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for money laundering in a separate case. One of the ministers, José López, a former public works secretary, was videotaped trying to stash duffel bags containing $9 million in cash, a Rolex watch and a semi-automatic rifle in his pocket. a convent in 2016 in an unrelated case.

The focus of Kirchner’s trial was largely on the 51 road construction contracts awarded to companies linked to Báez, a former Santa Cruz banker, to set up a construction company in the city. days before Mr. Kirchner became president in 2003 . The prosecution said between 2003 and 2015, the alleged scheme defrauded the Argentine state of more than 5 billion pesos, or about $926 million, according to officials.

According to the prosecution, contracts are often awarded at inflated prices, over budget or other special incentives. Nearly half of all road projects are never completed.

“These are systematic acts of corruption promoted and perpetuated by the highest political leaders in the country,” said Diego Luciani, chief prosecutor, in his closing remarks earlier this year.

Evidence presented during the trial included WhatsApp messages between Mr. López, the former public works secretary, Mr Báez, and the president of one of his construction companies.

Prosecutors said the messages revealed plans to conceal evidence during the waning days of the Kirchner administration in 2015, by transferring final contract payments to Mr Báez, firing his staff. and abandoned road projects.

Some of the announcements included references to “La Señora” who had to “make a decision.” Prosecutors allege that “La Señora” refers to Ms. Kirchner, although she was never named.

Andrés Gil Dominguez, an Argentine constitutional lawyer, said that even if found guilty by this court, Ms. Kirchner would not have to go to jail on Tuesday. She still has many ways of appealing and, as an incumbent member of Congress, enjoys immunity from arrest. Even if she doesn’t appeal, she probably won’t go to jail, as Argentina allows people over 70 to serve sentences at home. Mrs. Kirchner is 69 years old.

Kirchner’s supporters have suggested they would protest if she was convicted. Luis D’Elia, head of an organization representing the unemployed, said: “As they read Cristina’s sentence, thousands of us took to the streets across the country to bring it to a standstill. . in a radio interview.

The vice president has faced a number of other judicial battles and has won some of them.

Last year, a court dismissed the allegation against her over allegations that she conspired to cover up Iran’s purported role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. The charges against Ms. Kirchner were first brought in 2015 by prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was found dead from a gunshot wound in his apartment a few days later.

His death was never resolved, and the matter has been a source of frenzied speculation and political infighting ever since.

A separate case accusing her of defrauding the government through the dollar futures market was dismissed last year.

Ana Lankes reports from El Chaltén, Argentina, and Natalie Alcoba from Buenos Aires.

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