U.S., Argentina in recovery over ‘Suitcase-gate’

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The cold war between Washington and Buenos Aires seems to be thawing.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner met today with U.S. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne, reported Clarin. Washington’s envoy had been in diplomatic limbo since the ‘Suitcase-gate’’ scandal re-erupted here late last year. That’s the curious case of an alleged bagman for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who in August was found carrying $800,000 in his luggage on arrival in Buenos Aires from Caracas. In December, testimony in a criminal case in Miami suggested the money was intended for the presidential campaign of Fernandez. The outraged president dismissed the matter as a ‘garbage operation’’ meant to discredit her and Chavez, a close ally.

The scandal has resonated throughout the region. Many seem willing to believe that Washington aggressively pursued the case to sully the image of archfoe Chavez. For years, allegations have swirled that the Venezuelan leader was secretly dispensing petro-dollars to bankroll allies in Latin America.

But fewer seem inclined to buy the Argentine government’s official, and some critics say paranoiac, conspiracy theory: that the entire affair was a kind of CIA ‘black op.’ The embattled government here basically turned to a familiar trope, that suitcases of cash equal the CIA. It’s true enough that Fernandez hardly needed the bucks for her campaign for the presidency, which she won handily last October. She was the sitting first lady and enjoyed a seemingly limitless war chest. To this day, the source and destination of the $800,000 remain murky. Some speculate the cash could have been destined for sundry Chavez cronies in Argentina.

Opposition leaders in Argentina now fear the truth will never emerge. Their take: The traditional allies in Washington and Buenos Aires have decided to make nice about the whole messy affair and get back to business as usual.

-- Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires