A court in Buenos Aires Wednesday acquitted former Planning Minister Julio De Vido and AFIP tax bureau Chief Ricardo Echegaray for the 2007 attempted smuggling of a suitcase containing nearly US$ 800,000 which was being brought into the country by Guido Antonini Wilson, who was believed to be an envoy of then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
As part of its “Malvinas noose tightening” policy the Argentine government is planning an international tender to offer licenses to explore for oil near the Falkland Islands, reports Buenos Aires main daily Clarin in its Monday edition, citing a letter to Congress by Cabinet chief Juan Manuel Abal Median.
The Argentine political establishment is agitated after the heavy remarks made before a federal judge by former Argentine ambassador to Venezuela Eduardo Sadous, who said local businessmen had to pay kickbacks to former president Néstor Kirchner administration officials to be able to export their goods to Venezuela.