The now infamous "suitcase scandal" has deeply alienated the new Argentine government and is likely to further sully Vaşinqton‘s reputation in Latın Amerikası.
On December 20 the ABŞ government indicted four Venezuelans and one Uruguayan for allegedly acting as foreign agents without notifying the ABŞ government. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on August 4 when Guido Antonini Wilson, a Venezuelan/American with dual citizenship, was stopped at Argentine customs with about $800,000 cash in a suitcase.
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that the money was intended for the election campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was elected president of Argentina on October 28. Of course this would not violate ABŞ law, even if it were true; nor would the Feds’ charge that the money came from the Venezuelan government. What makes it a Federal case is the charge that the defendants, allegedly acting on behalf of the Venezuelan government, tried to convince Antonini to keep quiet about the alleged origin and destination of the money.
Thus the men are indicted for failing to notify the U.S. Attorney General that they were acting as agents of a foreign government (Venesuela).
The charges have deeply alienated the new Argentine government, which by all accounts was poised to increase its engagement with the Amerika Birləşmiş Ştatları. President Cristina Fernandez immediately dismissed them as "garbage," and her government accused Vaşinqton of using "dirty tricks" to intimidate her and attempt to drive a wedge between Argentina və Venesuela. Her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, demanded that the ABŞ surrender the fugitive Antonini, for whom the Argentine government has repeatedly sought extradition from the Amerika Birləşmiş Ştatları.
The case is clearly a major foreign policy blunder for the Bush Administration. There is no love lost in relations with Venesuela, which have been in the toilet since the Administration backed a failed military coup against President Hugo Chavez in 2002. But U.S.-Argentine relations have been cordial, despite the country’s deep resentment of the Washington-run International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its role in Argentina‘s severe economic crisis (1998-2002), and were set to improve.
Yalnız deyil Argentina, but most of the region, will likely see this prosecution as a gross political interference on the part of Amerika Birləşmiş Ştatları government in the internal affairs of its neighbors. No one will believe, nor should they, that it is merely a matter of "enforcing ABŞ laws," as State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the media.
Edmund McWilliams, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer here in Vaşinqton, cited other cases where "the Justice Department subordinated the pursuit of justice to Administration foreign policy objectives." He noted that this prosecution "may have been at the instigation of the Administration itself."
Şübhəsiz ki, belə görünür. Bu qanun (18 USC § 951) və ya onu müşayiət edən sui-qəsd qanunu (18 USC § 371) əsasında heç vaxt ittiham aktı olmamışdır - ən azı bir növ iddia edilən casusluq və bir növ potensial ABŞ milli təhlükəsizliyi ilə bağlı başqa bir ittiham olmadan. problem. Bu halda, həqiqətən də, iddia edilən cinayətin əsasını yalnız Baş prokurora bildirməmək təşkil edir. Və iş bundan da zəif ola bilər: ittihamnamənin demək olar ki, hamısı sui-qəsd ittihamına həsr olunub və bu, hökumətin hətta müttəhimlərin Venesuela hökumətinin göstərişi ilə hərəkət etdiyinə dair heç bir real sübuta malik olmadığını göstərir.
This particular case also does not smell good on its merits. The star witness is the man with the suitcase (Antonini), who has not been charged. Since he is wanted for money laundering in Argentina, he might well see his current liberty as dependent on saying and doing whatever the ABŞ government wants.
So far the prosecution hasn’t released any evidence that either the Argentine government or the Venezuelan government were involved in whatever the bag man was doing with the cash. Other things do not add up: Cristina Kirchner had no serious electoral challenge (the second place finisher got 23 percent to her 45 percent). Why would she risk taking $800,000 from Venesuela? And why send a shady businessman from the ABŞ through Argentine customs, when the cash could have been placed securely in a piece of Venezuelan diplomatic luggage, which by law cannot be searched?
The political decision to prosecute this case is just one more example of Vaşinqton‘s failed policies in Latin America, as it has repeatedly isolated itself by trying to isolate Venesuela from its neighbors. George W. Bush ran for President as "a uniter, not a divider." He continues to unite ever more of the world – against him.
Mark Veysbrot İqtisadi və Siyasət Araşdırmaları Mərkəzinin həm-direktorudur Vaşinqton, DC (www.cepr.net).
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