Alberto Fernández signed a letter denouncing the “lawfare” in Chile and provoked a diplomatic rebuke

This Thursday, Alberto Fernández adhered – along with other Latin American leaders – to a declaration by the Puebla Group in solidarity with the former Chilean presidential candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami, implicated in a criminal complaint for illegal financing of political life. “To accuse and not to have authorized the trial for 8 years is an unacceptable way of pursuing leadership, a new modality of Right“, criticizes the text. Fernández’s accession created a point of diplomatic tension within the government of Gabriel Boric.

Consulted by the press about this statement and the position of Alberto Fernández, the Chilean president slipped his disagreement with a brief comment. “I respect the institutions, I expect the same from my colleagueshe said, alluding to the definition of the Argentine head of state.

The position of the Puebla group, and therefore of Alberto Fernández for the signing of the text, although he questioned the management of the former president Sebastian Pineraspans Boric’s current stage from the left during which he maintained a “unacceptable way to pursue leadership”with reference to Enríquez-Ominami.

After this elevation shot against the Chilean state, on the other side of the Andes, there was a clear rejection of the signature of Alberto Fernández on this text. In this official statement, the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonia Urrejoladescribed as absolutely “unfounded” criticism of his country’s judicial system and interference in internal affairs, although he made it clear that this did not harm bilateral relations with neighboring Argentina.

“The first thing I did was talk to the ambassador (Rafael) bielsa about it and also talk to the Minister of Justice (Louis Cordero), it seems to us that the statements contained in this letter are absolutely inadmissible,” Urrejola said, adding that the executive branch headed by Boric not only respects, “but also protects the autonomy of the judiciary and the public ministry.”

For its part, the Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office, in a brief statement, reaffirmed “the professional and objective character” under which the prosecutors act, who, according to him, do so in “strict respect for the constitution and the laws in an institutional context autonomy and independence.

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In addition to Alberto Fernández, former Spanish presidents signed the letter, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero; Columbia, Ernest Samper; from Ecuador, Raphael Correaand from Bolivia, Evo Moralesamong other politicians, diplomats and intellectuals of different nationalities.

The text of the Puebla Group described the legal proceedings against Marco Enríquez-Ominami, initiated in 2015, as being “accused by prosecutors directly linked to the former right-wing president Sebastián Piñera”. “During these 8 years, Marco has denied these charges and asked to attend a fair trial, with impartial judges, where he can demonstrate the falsity of the charges.”

For the regional organization of the party, “the delay of the trial seriously violates the fundamental rights of the progressive leader for the damage to the reputation caused”, for which they considered that it was “another case of law like those advanced in Latin America to persecute progressive leaders, stigmatize them, point them out and then declare them innocent when moral harm has been caused”.

“Although the reasonable time is no longer respected, the trial finally begins, but with a new obstacle: an opening order which would not be valid, which would mean the future nullity of the trial. In this way, the rights of defense or due process continue to be violated or affected,” he added.

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Ominami, head of Progressive Party (PRO) and former presidential candidate on several occasions, is involved in a case of illegal financing of politics. The prosecution accuses several political figures of bribes, bribes and tax crimes related to the company M²a mining company controlled by Julio Ponce Lerou, former son-in-law of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

This is the second diplomatic incident between Chile and Argentina in a few weeks. At the recent summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Argentina, an audio was leaked in which Foreign Minister Urrejola openly criticized the Argentine Ambassador to the country in harsh terms, Raphael Bielsafor statements he deemed inappropriate.

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