MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuelan cash full suitcase strains Argentina/US link

Money of the “suitcase scandal”

The Argentine government yesterday said that the report presented by US prosecutors, linking the suitcase full of cash that came from Venezuela with Cristina Fernández's presidential campaign, is part of an “operation” against Argentina, while US officials said the case should not affect the bilateral relationship.

Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo yesterday said the FBI report on Antonini Wilson's suitcases was part of "an operation against Argentina's self-determination regarding international politics." He also added that "it is strongly related to the US government's clash with Venezuela." Meanwhile, the State Department assured that the bond with Argentina will not be damaged by the "suitcase scandal" and that it should be understood as a police and legal issue. Spokesman Sean McCormack yesterday claimed that "this is not about (North) American-Argentine relations, it's about people who are not Argentine and who allegedly broke the laws while being in US territory... so they are going to be judged." Venezuela's Foreign Ministry expressed their "admiration of the transparent and decent response given by President Fernández de Kirchner" to the United States accusations. He also described as "criminal" the legal process initiated against three Venezuelan citizens, in the United States for the confiscation of a suitcase with 800,000 dollars, carried by a businessman who was travelling to Argentina. The Venezuelan government issued a communiqué saying that "the vulgar and shameless participation of North American police and judicial agents is beginning to be proved." "They are trying to articulate a desperate political-judiciary action to restrain the advancement of new sovereign leaderships, independent and worthy of Latin America and the Caribbean," read the release. The document also defended President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, involved in the case. Meanwhile, Reinaldo Gargano, the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, with whom Argentina has a running dispute over the Botnia pulp mill functioning by the binational Uruguay River, backed the Argentine government's position and questioned the FBI report. During a press conference, Gargano doubted the veracity of the charges made by the US Justice Department. Gargano said that the suitcase scandal had happened a long time ago and that Washington had taken too long to react. He said they had proceeded with "quite a lot of inefficiency," suggesting the existence of an operation against Argentina's new president. The Uruguayan minister added that "there are people who are very nervous about the good relations that Latin American countries have with Venezuela." Randazzo remembered that the first news about the 800,000 dollars coming into Jorge Newbery metropolitan airport in Antonini Wilson's suitcase "was known as soon as the senator's (Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) candidacy was launched." "We think it's a great coincidence that on August 4 an airplane chartered by ENARSA came in ... carrying a passenger by the request of PDVSA's (Venezuelan national oil company) vice-president, such as Antonini Wilson. Buenos Aires Herald