Argentina ex-president’s corruption trial begins

BUENOS AIRES: The trial against former president Fernando De la Rúa and ex-members of his cabinet started here today.

De la Rúa has been accused of corruption, after allegedly bribing opposition senators to vote in favour of a labour reform in 2000, and could face up to six years in prison if found guilty.

The trial is considered a landmark, since it is the first time a former president has been brought to justice on charges of corruption. It is expected to last between six and eight months, according to Infobae.com.

The judges are expecting to hear testimonies from 339 witnesses. These include high-profile politicians like current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was a senator at the time and voted against the bill, former president Carlos Menem, and De la Rúa’s former vice-president Carlos ‘Chacho’ Alvarez, who resigned in October 2000 as the bribe allegations became public.

As well as De la Rúa, other high-profile officials facing trial include his former labour minister Mario Alberto Flamarique, former head of intelligence Fernando de Santibañes, and former parliamentary secretary Mario Pontaquarto. Pontaquarto has confessed to carrying a briefcase with money for the bribes, and accused De la Rúa of authorising the payment of U$S 4.3m in bribes to opposition senators to vote in favour of the controversial bill. “If there’s no sentence for me, there’s no sentence for anyone. If there is no sentence, the trial will remain unpunished,” the repentant Pontaquarto told the press today.

The senators who allegedly received the bribe have also been charged with corruption.

The controversial labour reform bill, which sought to further liberalise the labour market, was put forward by De la Rúa’s government in 2000, a year and a half before his resignation. It was part of a number of policies requested by the IMF in order to provide financial backing to the government. The law was passed in May 2000 and abolished in 2004.

The trial against De la Rúa is the second against a former president, but the first one for corruption. Last year, former president Carlos Menem was found not guilty of arms smuggling.