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Argentine Senator's arrest in Paraguay sparks political crisis in Buenos Aires

Kueider was voted as a Peronist but sided with Milei in recent key votes

Argentine Senator Edgardo Kueider was arrested Wednesday in Paraguay after trying to get into the country with around US$ 200,000 and AR$ 600,000 (US$ 60,000) of undeclared cash. He was caught by Paraguayan authorities when trying to drive through the La Amistad bridge from Brazil.

 The money Kueider was carrying was seized and stored at Paraguay's Tax Revenue Directorate (DNIT) pending an inquiry by the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money Laundering. Kueider was later released and allowed to stay at a hotel in Ciudad del Este.

The lawmaker won his seat on behalf of the province of Entre Ríos in the 2019 elections on the same ballot as Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernádez de Kirchner (CFK) but has recently sided with the ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA) in key votes. His case sparked a political crisis in Buenos Aires, as Kirchnerism was considering expulsion from the Upper House, where he chairs the Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Kueider, who belongs to the Federal Unity block alongside fellow Senators Carlos Espínola (Corrientes), Alejandra Vigo (Córdoba), Guillermo Snopek (Jujuy), and María Eugenia Catalfamo (San Luis), faces a likely stripping of parliamentary immunity.

Ironically, the Committee he chairs should be the one handling his case. Deputy Chairwoman is Sandra Mendoza from Tucumán of the Kirchnerite Unión por la Patria. She is close to Peronist Governor Osvaldo Jaldo, an ally of Milei's this year.

According to La Política Online, Milei was considering Kueider for the Argentine Embassy in Montevideo at the suggestion of Presidential Advisor Santiago Caputo. The measure sought to shield Kueider, who is already being investigated for illicit enrichment and money laundering for owning some apartments and parking spaces in a luxury building in Paraná, registered in the name of his secretary and of a company linked to him. LLA feels he does not have enough strength to be reelected in 2025 but could nevertheless manage to snatch some votes from Peronism. Entre Ríos has three Senate seats at stake next year, with two for the winning list and one for whoever comes second. Caputo had also proposed Kueider as head of the Intelligence Committee but failed to get him appointed.

Should Kueider be expelled, the die-hard Camporista Stefanía Cora, a current provincial lawmaker, would fill his seat. She is known to be loyal to CFK, thus sttrengthening the latter's grip in the Upper House.

After Kueider's detention, CFK spared no flak against the man she considers a traitor. In a posting on X headed “Democracy for a fee,” the former President recalled that the Senator “could not give any explanations” for the money he had on him and hinted that “this is how votes are obtained for laws that harm the great majorities and the interests of the Nation; or the absences that prevent the repeal of the Decrees of Necessity and Urgency that condemn millions of Argentines to poverty or allow the Minister of Economy to put the country into debt again.”

Vice President Victoria Villarruel replied: “Madam Leader of the Band, to try to dirty [someone] you have to be minimally clean and you are dirtier than a sewer. Senator Kueider ran on your ballot, with his face next to you, and he is still an affiliate of the party you chair.”

“We are respectful of the laws and the institutional order, the justice system will settle responsibilities and I assure you that we will take all the measures we have to take so that the criminal acts that have been committed are paid for,” she added.

“Your time has passed, stop hurting Argentina with your gang and have the minimum dignity to stop tormenting our people,” the Vice President told her predecessor.