Lucia Salinas
02/21/2020 - 13:54
- Clarín.com
- Politics
In just over six months, three protected defendants abandoned the official program that guards them. All three had entered this system for their confessions as repentant in cases of corruption. Víctor Manzanares , former accountant of Cristina Kirchner, returned to the Río Gallegos and left the program before the change of management. Leonardo Fariña , accused of collaborating on "the route of money K", withdrew from the protection system after the October 27 elections. And this Friday, as Clarín anticipated, the supposed frontman of Amado Boudou, Alejandro Vandenbroele , also resigned.
Without a director assigned yet - according to Clarín official sources - the Protected Witnesses and Defendants Program has under its power 236 people, a universe that expands if family groups are contemplated. Then, the number amounts to 400 people . For now, the Ministry of Justice did not designate anyone in front of the system whose priority is the protection and integrity of the lives of those who are part.
The Program became an axis of dispute between the current administration and the previous government. Macrismo considered that the system was underfunded. The funds that support its operation are reserved. Also, the previous director, following an audit, said there were no controls on how the resources were applied.
Now, Alberto Fernández's management maintains that Cambiemos used the Program to influence legal cases against former Kirchner officials , mainly those that involve Cristina Kirchner.
The last controversy began with a decision by Mauricio Macri, with only eleven days left before he left power. Then, he signed a decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) to create the National Agency for Witness and Imputed Protection, an autarkic entity that would not depend directly on the authorities designated by Alberto Fernández in the Ministry of Justice, but instead turned it into a tripartite body with the participation of Justice through the Chamber of Cassation and the Attorney General. A charter was signed and justice was given intervention. But that never worked during these months.
What for the outgoing government was an “institutional rearrangement aimed at strengthening its actions and guaranteeing the conditions for its independent action,” for Justice it responded to a decision “with a certain degree of irresponsibility for the type of cases involved, the budget that demand, logistics and security devices that should be considered, ”said a judge of Comodoro Py. Something similar resonated with the Ministry of Justice that analyzed the Macri DNU.
And this week, while the uncertainty was growing among many members of the program that collaborated in causes of corruption, the Executive Power - by decree also - decided that the Protection System should return under its complete orbit.
How does the program work
The process to enter the program is arduous, and has several stages to determine if the risk of danger is high, medium or low and, depending on that, the safety plan is drawn up. From its creation in 2003 to date, according to official calculations, the entries tripled and went from 41 to 153 cases a year.
Like so many other state policies, this program traveled a labyrinthine path. Before 2015 it was known as “the remisery” , because - as explained from the management of Cambiemos - “it worked more for the transfer of witnesses than to provide them with security in an integral way”. Following an internal audit, the previous government detected several shortcomings, such as the lack of a protocol, absence of equipment, vests, cameras, drones for prior security.
With very strict rules, which not everyone manages to adapt, the program assists men and women who participated in criminal activities or who witnessed them, and who, having given sensitive and relevant information, can influence an investigation. To protect them, many times those who enter the program are forced to accept a radical change in their lifestyles.
For example, there are strong restrictions on the technology they can use: they must deliver all their social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and their email addresses. Consequently, communication is no longer voluntary or free . Your phones ring at any time of the day, without prior notice, for the sole purpose of monitoring that everything is in order . Sometimes, they lose even contact with their innermost circle.
Corruption cases
The least amount of witnesses and defendants protected corresponds to corruption investigations. With Alejandro Vandenbroele's recent resignation, only 12 remain. One of them is his ex-wife, Laura Muñoz , whose story set off the scandal that led Amado Boudou to a 5-year and 10-month sentence for corruption.
After regretting the cause of the notebooks, the former secretary of Public Works of Kirchner , José López , asked to enter the Program. He remains detained for illicit enrichment, but at a headquarters away from the Ezeiza Prison . In his confession he admitted the existence of a system of posterization of public works and said that Cristina Kirchner was aware of everything, which included the system of bribes investigated.
The last to enter the program was Oscar Centeno , former driver of Roberto Baratta and author of the eight notebooks that gave rise to the cause where the circuit of coimas that - according to the accusation - was investigated by former officials of the former Ministry of Planning, “ commanded by Cristina Kirchner ”, they charged contractors from the State . It is the witness of "greater risk". With permanent housing removals and unable to reintegrate even work , the former driver modified some aspects of his image and receives regular visits from his family.