The Latin American Report # 583
Some time after the big scandal associated with the launch of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA, a new one has befallen Javier Milei's government in recent days, perhaps with more serious and immediate implications as it is directly related to the (mis)use of public funds. This involves an alleged bribery scheme involving a private pharmaceutical company supplying drugs for a government assistance program for people with disabilities, administered by the National Disability Agency (ANDIS in Spanish), which Milei ordered to be intervened.
The president himself, along with his sister Karina Milei, are among the accused in a case filed by lawyer Gregorio Dalbón, who is associated with the controversially convicted former president Cristina Fernández. According to EFE, the case is under the purview of federal judge Sebastián Casanello and prosecutor Franco Picardi, and is based on leaked audio recordings attributed to Diego Spagnuolo, the now-former head of the ANDIS and also one of Milei's lawyer—a very strange and concerning relationship in itself, in my view.
In the leaked recordings, the sister of the head of the Pink House is said to have been the recipient of 3% of the money being disbursed through ANDIS to the company Suizo Argentina for the pharmaceuticals. Neither Milei nor Karina have directly addressed the case, although the former retweeted a statement from Suizo Argentina claiming they have not committed any irregularities.
One of the accused is Eduardo Menem, a cousin of Martín Menem—nephew of former president Carlos Menem and current president of the Chamber of Deputies—, and who is presented as a close collaborator of Karina's. Martín Menem in particular claims that everything is a "political operation" in the midst of the electoral context. This may be, but the most important thing now is to determine the veracity of the allegations. We will keep an eye on this development.
Regional news briefs
Indigenous former presidential candidate Yaku Pérez yesterday accused the head of the Carondelet's Palace and the first lady of influence peddling and bribery in relation to a Toronto-based company, which allegedly gave donations to Lavinia Valbonesi and held meetings with Noboa to obtain an environmental license for gold mining in Azuay, an Andean province. Pérez threatened to mobilize the entire south of the country if the alleged license in favor of the mining company is not revoked.
In three localities in Peru, a total of ten people were arrested as part of an operation against child pornography. One of the detainees "is alleged to have been storing and possessing material of a child sexual nature in his personal email account, as well as on his cell phone." The Specialized Prosecutor's Office of Northwest Lima specifically targeted eight individuals who "lured, stored, distributed, and commercialized images and videos of child sexual abuse daily since the year 2024, through technological means and instant messaging applications." Monitoring by the US platform NCMEC was key to this investigation.
