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Argentine Leader Slams U.S. Allegations
President Cristina Fern¿ndez de Kirchner says U.S. accusations of a Venezuelan attempt to illegally fund her campaign stem from her friendly ties to Hugo Ch¿vez.
(By Natacha Pisarenko -- Associated Press)
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More than perhaps any other country in the region, Argentina has tried to balance friendly ties with both the United States and Venezuela, which has helped the country recover from its 2001 financial crisis by buying billions of dollars worth of Argentine bonds. During her campaign, Fernández de Kirchner emphasized the importance of strengthening the country's foreign relations, including those with the United States.
On Thursday, discussing the burgeoning controversy, she sided squarely with Venezuela.
"This president might be a woman, but she won't let herself be pressured," she said, drawing cheers from a crowd gathered for an event at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. "I'm going to continue to strengthen relations with all friendly Latin American nations, including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."
In a thinly veiled reference to the United States, Fern¿ndez de Kirchner also complained that some countries wanted others "subordinated" to them. It was an anti-imperialist note that resonates in many corners of Latin America, not just Venezuela.
Riordan Roett, an expert on Argentina at Johns Hopkins University, said the case would worsen already cool relations between the Bush administration and Argentina. Though he is critical of some of the Argentine government's economic policies, Roett said the United States could have handled the case more delicately.
"It was ham-handed," he said. "We have to learn how to deal with Latin America with these kinds of incidents. Someone should have been sensitive to the fact that there's a new administration in Argentina and you want to build new bridges."
The State Department on Thursday declined to address the specifics of the allegations, but spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that the Venezuelan government has been engaged in campaign politics in many countries in the region.
"We have talked about their interference in the affairs of other countries," said McCormack, who specifically mentioned Chávez's support of Ollanta Humala, who lost in his presidential bid in Peru last year. "They have tried to insert themselves into various elections throughout the region, and in several cases it has backfired."
But some analysts suggested that the U.S. allegations could also backfire if the case that prosecutors eventually present does not offer definitive proof linking Chávez''s money to Fernández de Kirchner's campaign.
Ignacio Labaqui, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Argentina, said the timing of the U.S. court complaint -- in the same week as Fernández de Kirchner's inauguration and the launch of the Bank of the South, a financial institution being championed by Chávez -- naturally brings out skepticism in Argentina. "I don't believe in conspiracy theories," he said, "but I would say the timing is quite suspicious."
Forero reported from Bogota, Colombia. Special correspondent Brian Byrnes in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
