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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Former Argentine President, Is Indicted Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Ex-Argentine President, Indicted on Financial Charge
(about 4 hours later)
BUENOS AIRES — A judge in Argentina on Friday indicted former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other officials on charges of manipulating the nation’s Central Bank during the final months of her administration.BUENOS AIRES — A judge in Argentina on Friday indicted former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and other officials on charges of manipulating the nation’s Central Bank during the final months of her administration.
Mrs. Kirchner and the officials are accused of entering into contracts to sell the Central Bank’s dollars at below-market rates during her presidency in order to shore up the Argentine peso.Mrs. Kirchner and the officials are accused of entering into contracts to sell the Central Bank’s dollars at below-market rates during her presidency in order to shore up the Argentine peso.
The judge said that it was “unthinkable that a financial operation of this magnitude” could have been carried out without the explicit approval of “the highest political and economic decision makers of government.” The judge, Claudio Bonadio, said that it was “unthinkable that a financial operation of this magnitude” could have been carried out without the explicit approval of “the highest political and economic decision makers of government.”
Axel Kicillof, Mrs. Kirchner’s former economy minister, is also being charged. Last month, he derided the case as “an absurdity” and “entirely political.” The criminal complaint that led to proceedings was filed by lawmakers in the governing coalition of the new president, Mauricio Macri. Judge Bonadio will now deepen his investigation, legal experts said, to decide whether the case goes to trial or is dismissed. Mrs. Kirchner can appeal her indictment.
Axel Kicillof, Mrs. Kirchner’s former economy minister, and Alejandro Vanoli, the former head of the Central Bank, are also being charged.
Last month, Mr. Kicillof derided the case as “an absurdity” and “entirely political.” The criminal complaint that led to proceedings was filed by lawmakers in the governing coalition of the new president, Mauricio Macri.
In theory, the Central Bank is independent, although scholars say it has long been used as a political tool of the government.
Supporters of Mrs. Kirchner contend Judge Bonadio is part of a wing of the judiciary that conspired to destabilize Mrs. Kirchner’s government, and they argue that she is being persecuted now that she is out of office. Mrs. Kirchner has branded her rivals in the judiciary as “the judicial party,” in a swipe at its impartiality.
“In this Argentina of revanchism and persecution, the judicial party is behaving like a mob,” Eduardo de Pedro, a lawmaker and Mrs. Kirchner’s former chief of staff, wrote on Twitter following news of the indictment. “The objective is the persecution of Cristina,” he added, referring to Mrs. Kirchner by her first name.
Mrs. Kirchner has clashed with Judge Bonadio in the past, alluding to him as a gangster, and she had also unsuccessfully requested his recusal on this case.
She was summoned to a hearing in the case last month, which, analysts said, revived her political ambitions. After a quiet period at her home in Patagonia, she has since been attending political meetings and called for Argentines to protest the market-oriented changesof Mr. Macri.
“She performs better in adversity,” said Juan Cruz Díaz, a director at the Cefeidas Group, a political risk analysis firm in Buenos Aires, referring to how this case and other corruption scandals were “cornering” Mrs. Kirchner.
In a statement to the judge last month, Mrs. Kirchner claimed that Mr. Macri’s government had co-opted parts of the judiciary to damage her reputation and divert attention from the government’s new economic policies, like cuts in energy and transport subsidies.In a statement to the judge last month, Mrs. Kirchner claimed that Mr. Macri’s government had co-opted parts of the judiciary to damage her reputation and divert attention from the government’s new economic policies, like cuts in energy and transport subsidies.
“Implementing the misery and structural adjustment program once again requires the use of defamation and slander,” Mrs. Kirchner wrote in the statement.“Implementing the misery and structural adjustment program once again requires the use of defamation and slander,” Mrs. Kirchner wrote in the statement.