MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Ultra-K” militant cleared for the Argentine embassy in Montevideo

Miguel Dante Dovena, a long record closely linked to the Kirchner couple

The Argentine Senate finally approved the nomination of Miguel Dante Dovena, a very close advisor of the Kirchner couple as the next ambassador in Uruguay.

The nomination had been delayed because former lawmaker Dovena had a pending investigation by the Buenos Aires securities and exchange regulator and the opposition refused to address the issue until the whole incident was cleared.

Dovena between 2003 and 2005 was a member of the board of Papel Prensa, the government-private sector corporation that supplies newsprint to the Argentine media. The “ultra-K” member as he is described by the Buenos Aires media was acting in representation of the government. Apparently he never was formally a member of the board and this was supported by the administrative report.

However the Senate Agreements Commission refused to address the Dovena’s nomination but finally an agreement was reached when the ruling coalition agreed to address other “frozen” issues and so Montevideo will finally receive an Argentine ambassador in the coming weeks.

The Argentine embassy in Uruguay has been vacant since the beginning of the year following the resignation of Hernan Patiño Meyer, who did not have the full favour of the Kirchner couple and preferred to retire.

However the administration of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has been urged to have an ambassador following the agreements reached with Uruguayan president Jose Mujica on the pulp mills’ dispute and a shared commitment of improving the deteriorated bilateral relations.

Since Montevideo is a highly sensitive embassy for Argentina, the Kirchner couple picked a man of their utmost confidence, Dante Dovena. Although a civil engineer he was been linked to politics for years having worked both in Buenos Aires and in Santa Cruz province where he became involved with the Kirchner couple.

Dovena was twice elected federal deputy (1983/2005) and was head of advisors of Mrs Kirchner when she was a Senator. In the 2009 mid term election Dovena was third in the Buenos Aires province slate behind Nestor Kirchner and Daniel Scioli, but the opposition performed much better than expected and he has left out.

He is therefore being compensated with an embassy where the Kirchners need one of their most trusted advisors.