The obligation of those in power to manage public resources with absolute honesty and to subject themselves to the strictest control is non-negotiable. It is a tacit promise, a social contract, the violation of which has implications that go beyond the legal sphere and lie at the heart of political legitimacy. In this context, any revelation, any statement that sheds light on obscene practices becomes an imperative for regulators and professional journalism, whose task is precisely to ensure compliance with this contract..
The hearings of the oral trial on the bribery booklets, which have been taking place since November 6 last year, have focused a renewed and new intensity on certain practices and customs of the family Kirchner about the rampant and pathological accumulation of cash in supposed safes and lockers that they had accumulated in their apartment buildings. Among the testimonies of repentant witnesses heard so far, that of the Kirchners’ financier still resonates. Ernesto Clarenswho testified before the judge in 2018 Claudio Bonadio and the prosecutor Carlos Stornelli some clues as to where the bribe went for the public work in which, according to his own story, he was involved.
According to the financier, the late secretary of Nestor Kirchner, Daniel Muñozthe main accused in the money laundering conspiracy case told him how the money collected ended up 2,600 kilometers south of Buenos AiresIn El Calafate. “I would like to add that Muñoz always mentioned to me that all the money was in there Metal files that were in a safe in the basement of the Kirchner couple’s house in El Calafate, where there was a strong smell of ink. Muñoz told me that the money was transported on official planes that departed on Fridays Airportfrom the military sector, and landed at the airport of Gallegos Riveror in El Calafate“The final destination of the money was always El Calafate,” Clarens said in 2018, and his testimony will now be read out at the hearings.
There are details in his story that, other than the severity of the enormous damage, could be described as hilarious.: “Muñoz told me this as an anecdote After collecting so much money, they had to carry the bags through the kitchen of the house in El Calafate in the presence of the house’s cooks and employees.. Lazaro Baez He asked me what I should do with the money and I told him to buy assets. “Suddenly I learned that he was buying, for example, restaurants, gas stations, tourist agencies, fields… These purchases were not recorded in the accounting, and I believe that these transactions were not made with his own money, but with funds from the Kirchner couple,” Clarens testified.
His statements, supplemented by those of Jose Lopez – the man who became famous for throwing bags containing millions of dollars into a monastery – led to a raid ordered by Bonadio in 2018 Federal Police performed in the chalet of Cristina Kirchner in El Calafate. The procedure lasted three days, according to records at the time The researchers found structures resembling vaults, implying another stark contrast to the former president’s denial..
According to sources close to the investigation, these rooms were located in the basement of the former presidential house in the Patagonian city, where valuable goods were stored. This assumption of a predetermined destination for these premises merely provided clues to the nature of their contents and the discretion with which certain assets within the sphere of influence of the then presidential family were managed.
One of the elements that attracted the most attention and was highlighted in the descriptions of the results was the absence of a door in one of these two rooms, which are considered vaults. The unique feature of this missing person was that it was presumably armored, which would add an additional security component to the casing’s function. The absence of this key element in an already suggestive place Because of its location and design, it raised questions about the timing of its removal and the fate of its subsequent contents.
While the raids were being carried out on the former president’s chalet, supporters of Cristina Kirchner attacked the team of journalists and stole work items LN+ which included the start of the court proceedings. While they were broadcasting live, a man took the LN+ microphone from the reporter’s hands and threw it into the stream next to the house. The police never acted and allowed the attacker to escape with impunity..
Days later, Cristina Kirchner sent a video from her home. While leading them through places she had chosen, she assured: “There are no cellars” and portrayed herself as a victim of political and legal persecution, which significantly distorted the outcome of the proceedings carried out there. He complained about alleged damage during the operation and brought up a phrase that has a different meaning today: he described it as “Group of drivers and journalists“ to the handful of press workers who did the reporting surrounded by militancy that insulted and attacked him.
Over three decades, the history of the Kirchner family is full of episodes that reveal the clear devotion of its members to money, such as the black and white video, the authenticity of which was confirmed by witnesses, of Néstor Kirchner cynically hugging a safe in the community Las Herasduring a tour during his term as governor. “ecstasy” he says enthusiastically in the video published in 2013, when concerns against Kirchnerism, which was still in power, began to be heard louder and louder. The entire episode was confirmed years later by the then lieutenant governor and former ally of Kirchner. Edward Arnold.
The history of the safes in the family home Holy Cross It’s not new. After assuming the presidency in 2003, the Kirchners purchased an elegant and traditional house in the center of Río Gallegos. Various witnesses claim that they installed safes there that they stole from the mortgage company.which were removed in February 2008 when a move in front of all the neighbors emptied the house and moved the furniture to El Calafate. The house was bought by the pseudo-entrepreneur Lázaro Báez through his company Epelco SA.
The collective memory is nourished by these and many other episodes that, as they are redefined through new testimony and with the context that emerges at each hearing on the Cuaderno case, forces one to reread past events in the light of a broader and more critical perspective. It is difficult to separate this pathological devotion to money and safes from those who held national power in the country for almost two decades. It is a lingering reminder that unchecked power can lead to excesses that violate the most fundamental principles of republican ethics.
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