A U.S. grand jury indicted five men charged with acting as “undeclared Venezuelan agents” working in the U.S. The accused- four Venezuelans and one Uruguayan- allegedly tried to cover up the smuggling of over $800,000 destined for Argentina.In other developments in the “Maletagate” hullabaloo, an Argentine prosecutor claimed that he saw the businessman who tried to smuggle the money at the country’s presidential palace two days after the money was seized. The accusation comes days after prosecutor Maria Luz Rivas Diez said that she would expand the charges against Guido Antonini Wilson to include money laundering.
According to the New York Times, U.S.-Argentina relations have become much weaker as a result of the “Maletagate” investigation:
Thursday’s indictment caps a week in which relations between Argentina and the United States appeared to hit a new low. Mrs. Kirchner has reacted angrily to the investigation, which became public just two days after she was sworn in, saying it is meant to drive a wedge between Argentina and Venezuela.
American officials have denied that the case was brought to try to thwart Mr. Chavez.
Sources- Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, New York Times, BBC News
Image- BBC News
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