Life Is Not Pretty in Argentina’s Pink House
James M. Roberts /
Mary O’Grady reported in the December 6 Wall Street Journal that a key Argentine anti-money-laundering unit may have been protecting President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her late husband, Nestor, from scrutiny and investigation in the area of dirty money.
Apparently under the Kirchners, Argentina has become a feeble ally in the global fight against drug money laundering. Other tidbits that have emerged recently expose a poor record of governance in Argentina’s “Pink House” (Casa Rosada). Secretary of State Hillary Clinton questioned Cristina’s mental and Nestor’s gastrointestinal health; the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires reported that Nestor’s “personalistic, often erratic operating and decision-making style” amounted to a “divide and conquer” approach to governing.
More troubling are reports about Kirchner’s approach to law enforcement and to economic policy. A cable reported that the leader of a Financial Action Task Force review of Argentina’s anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism finance regime was “skeptical” of the Kirchners’ intentions to combat money laundering and terror finance. (more…)