Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina, is in the news this week after a prosecutor who spent years building a case against her for a massive coverup was found dead.
Alberto Nisman was found late on Sunday with a handgun at his side after he was unresponsive to phone calls during the day. While an investigation is ongoing, a locked-from-the-inside door has pointed to a suicide, which troubles those who knew him. Nisman had spent the last two years compiling evidence against President Kirchner in what he claimed was a coverup for the 1994 bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish center, which killed over 80 people.
“The president and her foreign minister took the criminal decision to fabricate Iran’s innocence to sate Argentina’s commercial, political and geopolitical interests,” Nisman said.
Cristina Kirchner has reportedly ordered the declassification of all the materials Nisman had collected, which he was due to present to parliament today.
“The State of Israel hopes Argentina’s authorities will continue Nisman’s work, and take every possible effort to bring those behind the Argentina attacks to justice,” an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said.
For the victims of the terrorist attack and their families, news of Nisman’s death comes as a shock and leaves many in fear, especially after he reportedly told at least one friend that he was being threatened for the things he was uncovering.
“He also said in passing that he was being threatened. ‘Make a complaint,’ I told him. But he didn’t want to. He said that first he had to talk to his ex-wife, who was in Europe with their daughters, and that he didn’t want the girls to live in a nightmare scenario with bodyguards to take them to school,” said friend Laureano Pérez Izquierdo.
“We are all petrified by Mr. Nisman’s death. I always considered him a very hardworking prosecutor. Beyond the truth or lies behind his death, the victims’ families have always felt helpless and I think politicians have taken advantage of this to cover up the true investigation. I’m always going to keep my hope alive that this case does not die along with Mr. Nisman,” said Mario Averbuch, who lost a daughter in the bombing.
Cristina Kirchner’s cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, has said the allegations that she was involved in a coverup are “outrageous and illogical”.
“This is truly absurd,” Capitanich said.
Nisman’s autopsy results have not been released, but according to the Associated Press, he was found with a gunshot wound to the temple. On Friday night, however, he emailed the Wall Street Journal saying he planned to show proof that Cristina Kirchner was indeed involved in a deal with Tehran to offer immunity to Iranian suspects in exchange for oil.
