MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Cristina Kirchner accuses the Judiciary and media of demonizing leaders of popular democratic governments
Argentina's ex-president Cristina Kirchner arrived in court on Monday to give evidence in a corruption trial in which she is charged with diverting public funds, just a week before she returns to the country's government as vice president. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesWow how tragic. Can't wait to see what happens after Fernandez is thrown out of power after the economy continues to be flushed down the tubes. She'll just mobilize the usual suspects and he'll be removed. Viva La Narcokleptrocia!
Dec 03rd, 2019 - 10:56 am - Link - Report abuse -2What is this “ no honour amongst thieves” I here you cry.Try for Latam states.
Dec 03rd, 2019 - 05:33 pm - Link - Report abuse -1She's right. Anyone who's studied the history of military coups in Latin America, knows that they overwhelmingly count with support from mainstream media outlets, and that this support in based on ideological hatred against the left-wing. Sometimes this backfires on the media. The Brazilian media whined when the military elite decided that the coup government wouldn't last just a couple of years, but decades, and the Brazilian media is whining once again now because Brazil's military president, Bolsonaro, is a low IQ thug with no respect for democratic norms, including press freedom. But neither the '64 coup nor the '18 election of Bolsonaro would have succeeded without nonstop demonization of left-wing presidents and movements by the media.
Dec 03rd, 2019 - 05:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Sr. Forgetit87...
Dec 03rd, 2019 - 09:20 pm - Link - Report abuse -1The last couple of years..., I have somehow refreshed my Portuñol by listening to Lula's many good appearences in front of the Brasilian Kangaroo courts...
Herewith..., 3 hours and 33 minutes of the brilliant appearance of Cristina in front of the Argentinean Kangaroo courts...
- She simply destroyed them during the whole 213 minutes...
The last 3 minutes were the best..., the last 30 seconds..., not even Martin Scorsese could have done it better...;-)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yV37D_w8WwY
She would've been right if she'd said 'left-wing and socialist governments'. Dunno why these leaders in Latin America can't be honest, the right does the same thing by using 'ideology' to mean only left-wing ideology, which is obviously nuts.
Dec 04th, 2019 - 10:00 am - Link - Report abuse -2by pretending only their opponents have an
Are politicians in Latam exempt from filing tax returns? How do these people get so rich? If you know the answer please let me know.
Dec 04th, 2019 - 10:23 am - Link - Report abuse -2Tax havens, Golfcronie. They hide their ill-gotten gains in Bermuda, Switzerland, and certain US states. Those places get rich and Latam stays poor.
Dec 04th, 2019 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse -2Yes but they must be using it somewhere or why bother stashing it away.The authorities in Argentina need to press for tax returns and invoices of money spent.Not difficult or would that open a “can of worms ”?
Dec 04th, 2019 - 12:48 pm - Link - Report abuse -1Hell yeah it would open a can of worms. It's the authorities who are doing all this dodgy stuff, they're not going to make it easier to investigate themselves. Even in America they haven't managed to get the president to release his tax returns, and corruption isn't nearly as common there.
Dec 04th, 2019 - 03:08 pm - Link - Report abuse -2When they do claim to crack down, it just means they go after the opposition and ignore everything their own party does. Once Macri is out of power we can expect some interesting investigations into his actions as president.
@Think
Dec 04th, 2019 - 06:26 pm - Link - Report abuse +1I'm not surprised she's made her case so convincingly - she's a rare politician in today's time, one who combines a “populist”, anti-establishment standpoint with sharp intellect and eloquence in speech. Far more common in our days are so-called populist politicians, such as Bolsonaro and Trump, who can't give a coherent form to their anger at the media due to their faulty or undisciplined intellect.
However, it also helps media critics on the left that the media are historically much more opposed to the left than to the right, and so it is easier for leftists to make our case.
Forgetit87
Dec 04th, 2019 - 07:27 pm - Link - Report abuse -3Sounds like you think Trump and Bolsonaro have reason to be angry at the media. Is that correct?
There's absolutely no justice in Argentina. Lady K seemed to be attending a political rally instead of a trial.
Dec 04th, 2019 - 07:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just amazing!
Then we wonder why born&raised Argentines wouldn't even consider investing in their own country.
@DemonTree
Dec 05th, 2019 - 02:31 am - Link - Report abuse +1I won't comment on Trump, since I'm a non-American and I don't understand the US media culture. There's no doubt that he hates the press; how well-grounded the hatred is, I don't know. As someone who's from Brazil, however, I can see why Bolsonaro would resent some media outlets. It is undeniable that many big-wig journalists (for example, on Globo network) were visibly rooting against him in the 2018 election. It remains the case, however, that Bolsonaro owes his election last year to these selfsame journalists, who spent years demonizing the left and human rights NGOs, and feeding middle class resentment against the poor and slum dwellers.
It also remains the case that Bolsonaro is a sui generis politician when it comes to how deep his connections with the organized world is, though the media are yet to treat him as the scum that he truly is. There's no doubt that he is involved in the murder of Rio councilwoman Marielle Franco, and there's even less doubt that he and his family have stolen public money by hiring “ghost” public servants just so they could gobble up their salaries, and by having people in the PSL party (originally Bolsonaro's party) launch fake candidacies so the Bolsonaros could, again, take over the public funds to which political candidates are entitled. But the media remain pulling punches in this respect, having pursued left-wingers, such as Lula, much more vigorously on much more spurious grounds.
Nobody had to demonize her after wrecking the economy, using La Campora to vandalize farmer's silobolsas and causing factories to close, and allowing the export of meth precursors to the drug cartels in Mexico, aimed at flooding the US (and Canada,) with the drug. Let's not forget to mention assassinating the public prosecutor who called her out on her alliance with terrorists. She has manifested what she is without anyone's help. :)
Dec 05th, 2019 - 11:18 am - Link - Report abuse -1https://oi1290.photobucket.com/albums/b521/imoyaro/chopperqueen_zps9decebe2.jpg
With an amazing, three-and-a-half hour speech full of substance and fire, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner came out swinging against the three judges who twice denied her request that her testimony be broadcast.
Dec 06th, 2019 - 04:33 am - Link - Report abuse -1”(CFK) is accused of having favored...Lazaro Baez in the award of 52 public works contracts...”
The above statement shows that the Macri government really did not seek to have a solid, well-supported case (that is why in four years CFK numerous cases did not make a lot of progress).
Reality is, out of those 52 public work contracts, the Macri government commissioned the audit of only five -- and could not find any irregularities.
As a result of these and other inconsistencies (a president's role does not entail directly supervising the execution of public works) the trial cannot make much progress, simply because at some point CFK will be exonerated.
During her speech, Cristina explained how lawfare operates in Latin America, working with sectors of the judiciary, the mainstream media and intelligence services to erode the prestige of public figures.
However, in November the Argentine people demonstrated they have already understood the tenets of lawfare and how they were screwed by mainstream media such as Clarin and La Navion, and overwhelmingly voted for CFK and Alberto Fernández.
Mauricio Macri, in spite of his dirty tricks, has become the first president, after the democratic post-1983 period, not to be given a second term in office.
Chau, Macri.
Forgetit87
Dec 06th, 2019 - 10:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Ah, I didn't know Globo etc were against Bolsonaro. Wouldn't have assumed it, since he seems a bit more popular with the establishment than Trump - probably because of Guedes and his commitment to neo-liberal economics. Plus society and the media seem generally further to the right in Latin America. Agree the Brazilian media only have themselves to blame for his election; they wanted someone like Meirelles, but the major parties were so obviously neck deep in corruption that the people chose Bolsonaro instead.
As for Trump, I think the hatred between him and most of the media is real, despite the symbiotic relationship between the two. But he's given them damn good reason to hate him.
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