Friday, December 14, 2007

Argie prez denies “spy” links

Recently inaugurated Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has vehemently rejected accusations that the Venezuelan government illicitly paid her campaign. According to the New York Times:

“There is some garbage in international politics that holds back development and seriousness in international relationships,” Mrs. Kirchner said from the presidential palace here…

“This president may be a woman, but she’s not going to allow herself to be pressured,” Mrs. Kirchner said in a televised speech. She said she would “continue affirming our friendship with all Latin American countries and also with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

Kirchner’s ire came from allegations made on Wednesday by U.S. prosecutors regarding the arrests of three Venezuelans and a Uruguayan man for “acting as undeclared agents of the Caracas government.” Prosecutors linked the arrested group with Antonini Wilson- a Venezuelan businessman arrested in August after trying to smuggle $800,000 into Argentina supposedly as a campaign contribution.

Sources- New York Times, Voice of America, the Latin Americanist, Reuters

Image- BBC News

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