MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine gov't downplays disability aid scandal

Karina Milei insisted the fight was against Kirchnerism

Argentine authorities downplayed the recent scandal triggered by corruption allegations surrounding disability aid money and insisted it was all a plot by the opposition just days shy of the mid-term federal elections in the province of Buenos Aires, the country's largest and most significant district.

Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos said Saturday that President Javier Milei was “calm” and suggested it was all a “political setup” given the election campaign. He explained in a radio interview that Milei was “calm, serene, convinced, and aware that we are in the pre-election period” and assured that “these things cannot stop him.”

In Francos' view, “the ball is on the court of justice's side; we believe that there are no facts to prove, but if there are responsibilities, they must be prosecuted and sentenced.”

The scandal broke last Wednesday when local media published recordings in which then Disability Agency (Andis) Diego Spagnuolo is allegedly heard detailing a bribery scheme. Spagnuolo has been sacked since he allegedly mentioned the existence of an illegal money collection network with Milei's knowledge. All allegations led to the Presidential Secretary and sister Karina Milei, and Advisor Eduardo Lule Menem, a cousin of House Speaker Martín Menem.

The audio recordings prompted a criminal complaint for corruption against Javier and Karina Milei, Spagnuolo, and Menem, among others, which was filed by attorney Gregorio Dalbón, who represents former President Cristina Fernández (2007-2015), who is serving a sentence for corruption.

Spagnuolo and the four other defendants have been banned from leaving the country.

Meanwhile, this weekend, Karina Milei presided over a campaign event at the Peronist stronghold of La Matanza: “We are ready to fight so that they don't steal from us anymore,” she insisted before some 8,000 followers who will serve as La Libertad Avanza (LLA) observers during the elections.

“I want to thank you because, honestly, it's incredible how many people were left outside,” Milei attendees. “But the most important thing is that we are all willing to fight, to monitor the elections so that they don't steal from us anymore.”