Stories for April 2016

Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 08:19 UTC
Ex Transport Secretary involves Nestor and Cristina Kirchner in purchase of out of service trains

Discouraging week for the Kirchner family and followers, despite the fact that he name of their main political enemy, Mauricio Macri, has cropped up in the Panama Papers. Not only Lazaro Baez, the dominant public works contractor in Santa Cruz province, and believed to be a straw man for the Kirchner family has been arrested and faces questioning on a money laundering investigation, but also former Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime implicated the Kirchner couple and a former minister in a multimillion purchase of damaged railway materials.
Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 08:03 UTC
Kirchnerite businessman arrested; faces charges of money laundering and fiscal fraud

An Argentine powerful public works contractor from the province of Santa Cruz and close associate of the Kirchner family, Lazaro Baez was arrested on Tuesday afternoon when he arrived in his private Lear Jet to a Buenos Aires airport. Considered one of the wealthiest men in the southern province, political turf of the Kirchner family, and with an 'unrivaled' talent for business, Baez is a main suspect of an investigation into alleged money laundering.
Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 07:57 UTC
Obama on Panama Papers: “a lot of it is legal, but that's exactly the problem”

United States President Obama hailed new Treasury Department rules cracking down on corporate tax inversions Tuesday, calling the practice of merging with a foreign company to escape U.S. taxes “one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there.”
Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 07:39 UTC
Labor leader Corbyn says UK should consider “direct rule” on overseas territories acting as tax havens

Pressure mounted on Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday to impose “direct rule” on British overseas territories after several of them figured as tax havens in the leaked Panama Papers that have caused ripples around the world.
Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 07:23 UTC
Panama Papers: Head of Chile's Transparency International has to step down

In another unexpected to come from this Panama Papers scandal, the head of the Chile office of the corruption watchdog group Transparency International has resigned after his name appeared in the data leak.
Wednesday, April 6th 2016 - 07:12 UTC
Baroness Scotland becomes first woman Secretary General of the Commonwealth

Dominica-born Baroness Patricia Scotland began this week her job as Commonwealth Secretary-General, pledging to focus on several issues of concern to the Caribbean, including dealing with violence against women and the effects of climate change.
Tuesday, April 5th 2016 - 17:54 UTC
Gibraltar and Falkland Islands governments joint statement on Spain and Argentina comments

Gibraltar and Falkland Islands flatly deny any “colonial situations” as was referred to by the foreign ministers of Spain and Argentina, and regret profoundly that two large countries with democratic credentials “seek to gang up to bully two very small territories and in the process completely ignore the right of their people to choose what they want to be”.
Tuesday, April 5th 2016 - 06:47 UTC
Argentina and Spain agree to re-launch closer political and trade relations

Argentina and Spain have decided to re-launch bilateral mechanisms that have been “asleep” for too long, promoting political and trade relations, said Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra who on Monday met with her visiting Spanish peer, Jose Manuel García/Margallo.
Tuesday, April 5th 2016 - 06:26 UTC
Brazil's defense makes its case before the congressional impeachment committee

Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo told the congressional impeachment committee Monday that Rousseff had done nothing wrong and to remove her would be tantamount to a putsch.“As such, impeaching her would be a coup, a violation of the constitution, an affront to the rule of law, without any need to resort to bayonets,” Cardozo told the 65-member committee.
Tuesday, April 5th 2016 - 06:06 UTC
Macri admits he was member of family offshore society, but it was reported to the Argentina tax office

Argentine President Mauricio Macri came on stage on Monday to defend himself as he is one of the world leaders to appear as director of an offshore society in the so called “Panama Papers” leak that triggered a worldwide scandal.