Lucia Salinas
03/04/2021 13:14
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 03/04/2021 1:14 PM
Papers on the desk, strategically arranged, a photo with Nestor Kirchner in the background, the national flag to his right: everything was arranged in his office.
Cristina Kirchner prepared to speak before the judges of the Criminal Cassation Chamber to argue why the trial should be annulled for alleged irregularities in the sale of the future dollar in 2015.
His presentation lasted more than fifty minutes.
In an emphatic tone and
without hiding his anger, he pointed against the Judiciary
.
He spoke of a "rotten and perverse system", "corporate",
governed by "lawfare",
and held the courts responsible for the financial problems of the country. In several sections he
accused the president of the Chamber, Daniel Petrone, and his partner Diego Barrotaveña
, to contribute to the affectation of “the citizenship and its patrimony.” It will be those judges, together with
Ana María Figueroa
-the only one highlighted by Cristina- who will decide in twenty days on the future of this file.
Through zoom and broadcast live, the vice president began with her presentation at 10.36.
Before addressing the file, which earned her the first prosecution since she left the presidency of the Nation, Cristina referred to Room I of the Chamber of Cassation.
Of its members, he only highlighted Figueroa, whom he said he knew by seeing her in the media "denouncing pressure during the government of Mauricio Macri," despite the fact that the chambermaid later retracted her accusations.
“It is good to know the face of the judges;
Dr. Petrone did not know your face, it
would be good if your face also appeared in the media
”.
And so he stressed the importance "of presence and publicity as well."
He said the same about Barrotaveña "you didn't know your face either."
It was the starting point to outline a series of arguments that had as their axis the procedure of justice, which he accused of
"meddling in political decisions
.
"
Then he reiterated his statement already heard in the Federal Courts, when he said that he is the victim of political persecution.
“
It is not only the persecution from the judiciary, but the media intervenes: they
tell about things that do not exist in the files.
The sentences have to do with what is published in the media and nothing that is in the media.
Cristina's criticisms of the judges even linked them to the indebtedness taken by Mauricio Macri's administration.
"The previous administration only came to devalue and
you, the Judicial Power, are responsible for what happened and what is happening in the Argentine Republic
."
His tone of voice was even more emphatic and he said he felt indignation at that scenario, "today we cannot increase the number of retirees because we are in debt, today we Argentines owe 44 billion dollars more and you are responsible, do not look to the side, It is not the first time that happens to us ”.
Then he sharpened his pencil even more: "You, Dr. Petrone and you, Dr. Barrotaveña, denied us an appeal to the Court (in a case where Macri officials had been dismissed) on those who did commit crimes, they were dismissed in 2001 and returned to dismiss the serial debtors and
the former president who put us in debt is going to watch games in Qatar and Federico Sturzenegger gives classes around the world
and we are the accused ”.
Returning to what was said on other occasions and what was pronounced by President Fernández on Monday before the Legislative Assembly, the vice president considered that we are facing a “very serious institutional moment in the Argentine Republic, you cannot behave as a corporation because beyond the Constitution speaks of the 75 years always find a way to stay.
We are a democratic power, we go to elections every two and four years,
the people choose us or not ”.
Chamber I of the Cassation Chamber, has as of this Friday
twenty days to decide
whether Cristina Kirchner, Axel Kicillof, Alejandro Vanoli and the other defendants will go to oral trial or if they are overruled in this case, where they were accused of a alleged multi-million dollar damage caused to the state coffers by operations with the future dollar.
Chamber I was
the same that last year declared the Repentant Law constitutional
, thus endorsing the 31 testimonies of the accused collaborators that were fundamental, as determined by the late judge Claudio Bonadio during the investigation, to advance in the case known as the bribery notebooks.
The only dissenting vote in that ruling was that of Judge Figueroa.
The discharge for the cause
When the vice president addressed the file, she modified the accusation to which it is the subject - that the Central Bank had lost dollars and reserves as a result of future dollar contracts -
adding that "it was said that we had favored friends."
“Our friends were not on the list, but rather
the friends of who was already president of the Nation, Mauricio Macri like Mario Quintana,
who contracted a dollar in the future knowing that they were going to devalue.
They
bequeathed to the government, they devalued, they took
advantage of the devaluation in future dollar contracts and those of us who are sitting here are accused, we are the ones who de-indebted the country ”.
The request for dismissal was formulated after an expert opinion "that four years later, concluded that there was never an economic loss, that the Central Bank's balance sheet was positive, that with us the Central Bank increased its profits."
The prosecutor before the Court that has the case,
Diego Velasco, maintained that the expertise does not prevent the trial from taking place
and that it was one more test measure.
The TOF 1 endorsed said proposal and promoted the start of the trial, until Cristina Kirchner filed an appeal with the Cassation.
