Argentina lawsuit now also charges ex-president Macri with sending police material to Bolivia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of Argentina expanded its judicial complaint against former President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) for the alleged shipment to Bolivia of ammunition and anti-riot material for the repression of protests in that country in November 2019, after the departure of Evo Morales from power.

According to official sources this Thursday, the Ministers of Security, Sabina Frederic, Justice, Martín Soria, and the head of the Treasury, Mercedes Marcó del Pont, all denouncers, in this case, provided new evidentiary material before the court.

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In addition, in the extension of the complaint, they extend the alleged responsibilities to three former high-ranking officials of the Macri administration: the former Chief of Cabinet Marcos Peña, the former Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, and the former Secretary of Strategic Affairs Fulvio Pompeo.

The initial complaint was filed last July and focused on the alleged “illegal shipment of weapons and ammunition” to Bolivia, “repressive material” that, according to the complainants, was put “at the disposal of the dictatorship” of Jeanine Áñez.

The complaint was filed after the Fernandez government initiated an administrative investigation to gather documentation on the alleged shipment of the material to Bolivia.

The material allegedly arrived in an Argentine Air Force plane in La Paz on November 13, 2019, with a group of National Gendarmerie (Argentine border police) troops destined to provide security to the Argentine embassy in Bolivia.

The Argentine troops arrived in La Paz one day after Áñez assumed the Presidency of Bolivia after Evo Morales left power on November 10, claiming to be the victim of a coup d’état.

According to the administrative investigation carried out by the Argentine government, official records show the departure of firearms, ammunition, bulletproof vests, pepper spray, and hand grenades of harassment gas, among other materials.

According to sources of the Fernández government, the new evidence presented “shows that the highest political authorities of the Macrista government held meetings with the lower-ranking officials who instrumentalized the illegal smuggling, hours before the military plane took off with the illegal cargo bound for Bolivia.”

The new evidence provided includes the records of entry to the Casa Rosada, headquarters of the Argentine chief executive, on November 12, 2019, which, according to the complainants, constitutes “evidence that the decision to send repressive material to Bolivia” was taken there.