NotiSur-07/13/01-Peru, Argentina Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Note: This is a private reading copy for your use only. Redistribution is not permitted under our subscription with LADB. -- NY Transfer] ------------------------------------------------------------ L A T I N A M E R I C A D A T A B A S E NotiSur - South American Political & Economic Affairs ISSN 1060-4189 Volume 11, Number 26 July 13, 2001 ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001, Latin America Data Base (LADB), Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico Director: Rebecca Reynolds Bannister Editor: Patricia Hynds Staff writers: Carlos Navarro, Robert Sandels LADB ARCHIVES: Back issues are referenced to provide historical background relevant to the articles in this newsletter. These can be accessed with a subscription to the LADB searchable on-line archives at http://ladb.unm.edu/ by clicking on Search Archive. For subscription information, e-mail info@ladb.unm.edu or call 1-800-472-0888. In This Issue: PERU: VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS' RETURN IS JUST FIRST STEP * Montesinos still trying to buy a deal * Montesinos' arrest increased calls for Fujimori's extradition * Differing versions of arrest strain relations with Venezuela * Corruption difficult to eradicate ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT CARLOS SAUL MENEM INDICTED IN ARMS SCANDAL, WILL RUN FOR SENATE * Judge says Menem ran operation "from the shadows" * Lawyers vow to appeal to Corte Suprema if necessary * Menem will run for Senate ARGENTINA: MORE CHARGES AGAINST FORMER REPRESSORS * Couple sentenced for baby stealing * The "blond angel" could face extradition * Videla charges related to Operation Condor ____________________________________________________________ ********************* PERU ********************* PERU: VLADIMIRO MONTESINOS' RETURN IS JUST FIRST STEP [The following article by Barbara J. Fraser is reprinted with the permission of Noticias Aliadas in Lima, Peru. It first appeared in the July 9, 2001, edition of the weekly publication Latinamerica Press.] Former Peruvian national security adviser Vladimiro Montesinos was returned to Peru on June 25, a day after he was captured in Venezuela. Just days earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had flown to Peru where he met with president-elect Alejandro Toledo and promised that his country would do everything possible to apprehend Montesinos. The former spy chief, who fled Peru last year amid a corruption scandal that toppled the government of President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), was long believed to be in Venezuela. Critics in Peru charged that top officials in the Chavez government, including high military commanders, were protecting Montesinos (see NotiSur, 2001-02-02). Now that Montesinos is back in Peru after eight months as a fugitive, the country faces a dual challenge: trying him in a legal system that, until recently, he controlled, and rewriting the rules after a decade in which corruption became deeply rooted in public administration. In a survey done in February and March as part of an anti-corruption program funded by the World Bank, citizens and government functionaries identified corruption as one of the country's top problems, second only to unemployment, while businesspeople ranked it as the greatest obstacle to development. The magnitude of the problem has become more evident since the Fujimori government fell last November following the airing of a video showing Montesinos bribing a newly elected congressman to switch parties (see NotiSur, 2000-09-22, 2000- 10-06, 2000-12-08). Fujimori fled to Japan and Montesinos was in hiding until his capture in Venezuela June 24. Montesinos still trying to buy a deal Montesinos is charged in 67 cases ranging from bribery and corruption of public officials to money laundering, illicit enrichment, and directing a death squad. Another 94 cases are under investigation. In a decade as the power behind Fujimori's presidency, Montesinos assembled a vast corruption network, buying off or extorting judges, military officers, business owners, politicians, and media magnates. Trying him, however, will not be easy. In his first court appearance, just hours after his return to Lima, he reportedly said that he had 30,000 additional incriminating videos, including some of judges and magistrates. With the veiled threat, "he is already setting up an internal front within the judicial system in an attempt to destabilize it," criminal law expert Luis Lamas said. "Montesinos will use this very intelligently, because he has information and undoubtedly knows there are many magistrates who have been involved in corruption and have not been sanctioned. He will wage a psychosocial war to gain a more advantageous position." In his first court statements, Montesinos also seemed to be shifting blame to Fujimori, saying he was only an adviser acting under the president's orders. A "collaboration law" allows suspects in the corruption investigation to testify in exchange for the reduction or elimination of penalties. The deal does not apply to ringleaders, however. Lamas said Montesinos may be trying to establish that he was not a leader to reduce the charges against him and his family members. Under a severe law engineered by Montesinos and Fujimori in 1995, some of the charges against Montesinos--such as homicide, genocide or torture, drug trafficking, and money laundering--could carry a life sentence. Lesser charges carry a maximum sentence of 12 to 15 years, with early release a possibility. Montesinos' arrest increased calls for Fujimori's extradition The former adviser's return to Peru fueled calls for Japan to send Fujimori home. On June 27, Peru's ambassador to Japan was recalled for consultation, but no extradition request has yet been made. In a mid-June survey by the Apoyo polling company, 80% of respondents said they believed Fujimori was guilty of corruption. Forty-two percent said they believed he approved operations by the death squad known as Grupo Colina, while 34% said they believed he knew of the operations but could not prevent them (see NotiSur, 2001-05-25). The two men now have few friends on their home turf. Dozens of military officers, politicians, and businesspeople have been jailed as part of the corruption investigations, and many are testifying in exchange for leniency. When Montesinos returned, authorities immediately faced the problem of finding a prison where he would be safe from other inmates who might seek revenge. Some have called for him to be held in isolation, so he cannot continue to manage the remnants of his corruption network from behind bars, but Lamas pointed out that isolation would be difficult, as he will be a key witness in dozens of related cases involving other defendants. In an ironic twist, on June 28 he was transferred to the Callao naval base where he had special cells constructed for terrorist leaders. Differing versions of arrest strain relations with Venezuela Conflicting accounts of Montesinos' capture led to friction between President Chavez and the Peruvian government. After months during which Venezuelan authorities claimed that Montesinos was not in their country, Chavez announced the spy chief's capture at the end of a summit of Andean presidents, insisting that Venezuelan police had acted alone in the arrest. But US and Peruvian officials immediately attributed the break in the case to the arrest in Miami, Florida, of a former Venezuelan security agent who attempted to withdraw money from a US$38 million account in Montesinos' name at the Pacific Industrial Bank. Weeks earlier, Peruvian officials had asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to keep an eye on the account. And on June 27, Peruvian Interior Minister Antonio Ketin Vidal said that Venezuelan agents had intercepted Montesinos as he was about to turn himself in under a secret deal with Peruvian authorities. Opposition legislators in Venezuela have opened an investigation into accusations that Montesinos was protected by top officials in the Chavez government. The multilateral wrangling, during which Venezuela and Peru recalled their ambassadors, reflects both the international nature of the corruption machine and the elaborate disinformation with which Montesinos covered his tracks. Corruption difficult to eradicate With its drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations, the Montesinos organization "has a long international reach," Lamas said, adding, "Vladimiro Montesinos is characterized by his capacity for intrigue and conspiracy." His style has permeated layers of public administration, and Peru's corruption troubles are unlikely to end with Montesinos' trial--which could go on for years. The World Bank survey indicated that 25% of domestic businesses and 35% of foreign companies operating in Peru pay bribes to obtain government contracts. Daniel Kaufmann, director of the World Bank's governance program, called corruption a "regressive tax" that takes its greatest toll on low-income citizens, microenterprises, and small businesses. Of individuals who reported paying bribes for public services, the average cost was 30 soles--about US$8.60--for people with high incomes and more than twice that for those with low incomes. Another stark indicator of the cost of corruption is the US$264 million found so far in overseas bank accounts managed by Montesinos, his cronies, and their front companies. Investigators estimate that their illicit earnings could amount to more than US$1 billion. The first hard evidence of illicit gains came in October, when a bank advised Swiss Examining Magistrate Cornelia Cova's office of an "unusual transaction" in a US$2 million account in Montesinos' name. Since October, she has frozen US$114 million, sometimes beating a transfer order by a day or two. Of those funds, US$70 million traced to Montesinos apparently were kickbacks on arms purchases from Russia and Israel, Cova said. The other US$44 million belong to Montesinos associates, including former Economy Minister Victor Joy Way. The source of those funds is still under investigation. ********************* ARGENTINA ********************* ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT CARLOS SAUL MENEM INDICTED IN ARMS SCANDAL, WILL RUN FOR SENATE Argentine Federal Judge Jorge Urso indicted former President Carlos Saul Menem (1989-1999) on July 4, charging him with profiting from illegally diverting 6,500 tons of weapons in 1991 and 1993. Two days after the indictment, Menem's Partido Justicialista-peronista (PJ) submitted Menem's name on its list of candidates for the Senate in mid-term elections in October. The 71-year-old Menem had been placed under house arrest on June 7 in an investigation that implicated him, three former ministers, his former brother-in-law, and the former head of the army. They were suspected of having illegally sold weapons to Croatia in 1991 and 1993 despite a UN arms embargo and to Ecuador in 1995 while that nation was in a border war with Peru (see NotiSur, 2001-06-15). Argentina was a peace mediator between Ecuador and Peru. On June 27, Argentine prosecutor Carlos Stornelli formally requested that Menem be indicted for the arms sales. "I asked for the indictment with preventive detention on the charge of heading an illicit association," said Stornelli the day after Menem gave written testimony to the court. Stornelli said he also requested that Menem be charged with signing presidential decrees containing false information. Judge says Menem ran operation "from the shadows" In the 600-page indictment, Judge Urso ordered Menem to remain in custody, froze US$3 million of his assets, and restricted visits at the country home where he is being detained under house arrest. The decision means that Menem's detention will likely continue for several months while the legal proceedings move through the courts. Urso ruled that Menem could not share the country home with more than three other people. He may receive no more than two visitors at a time between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., and each person must register with the authorities beforehand. The head of Menem's legal team, Oscar Roger, called the restrictions on visitors "aggravating." On July 5, Roger asked Judge Urso to remove the additional restrictions, saying 22 people live in the house where Menem is staying. He also said Menem has many friends, most involved in politics, who want to visit him, and it is insulting to make them stand in line. The judge has not yet ruled on the request. In the same ruling in which he indicted Menem, Judge Urso indicted former army chief of staff Gen. Martin Balza and former defense minister Antonio Erman Gonzalez--both already under preventive detention--as "organizers" of the illicit association. Former foreign minister Guido di Tella and former army officer Ricardo Gomez Sabaini were indicted as members of the arms-trafficking ring, but were not detained because their involvement was less. Judge Urso did not indict Menem and his collaborators for violating the weapons embargoes, but rather for setting up an illegal association, made up of government officials and others, dedicated to generating profits through the illicit sales of weapons. The judge contends that Menem was aware of all aspects of the illegal operations during his administration and that he authorized the transactions, even when obstacles arose that complicated the arms trafficking. The indictment accused Menem of running the illicit association "from the shadows." "Menem--who either directly or indirectly had assigned each one of the people implicated in the case to the positions they occupied--naturally headed, directed, and controlled the operations," said Urso. Lawyers vow to appeal to Corte Suprema if necessary Menem's brother, Sen. Eduardo Menem, called the indictment politically motivated. "There are special interests, political interests...and others behind this," he said. The former president said he was suffering political persecution by those who could not forgive him for "being the most successful president of all time." On July 10, Menem's lawyers filed an appeal with the Federal Appeals Court and said they would take the case all the way to the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) if necessary. Urging President Fernando de la Rua to intervene on Menem's behalf, the former president's allies say they would push to have Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo questioned about the arms sales. Cavallo signed several decrees authorizing the arms transfers when he served as foreign minister and economy minister in the Menem government. Should Cavallo be implicated in the scandal, it would be a major embarrassment for the government. De la Rua has consistently said he would not interfere in the judicial process. Former President Raul Alfonsin (1983- 1989), who heads the governing Union Civica Radical (UCR), said Menem's legal problems had "inconvenienced" government efforts "to reach a consensus among all Argentines to overcome this difficult time that we are living through." Menem will run for Senate On July 6, Sen. Eduardo Menem said the former president would run for the Senate seat from La Rioja province in mid- term elections in October, despite his legal difficulties. He insisted it was not a move to obtain immunity. "This is a political action and, to those who always see the negative side, I can say the ex-president will not seek shelter in immunity to avoid court action," said Sen. Menem. The same day, the former president's name was submitted on the official PJ list of candidates. State PJ officials said they would run Carlos Menem, Eduardo Menem (who has held the seat since 1983), and Ada Maza, sister of the state's governor. Both Eduardo Menem and Maza are expected to cede the seat to Carlos Menem if they win and he is exonerated. "Once this political persecution finishes, he will have a seat at his disposal because of what he means to the Peronist party in La Rioja and nationally," said Sen. Menem. Menem's decision to run set off a legal, as well as political, controversy. Although the Codigo de Justicia Electoral bars anyone under indictment from running for office, the Constitution only bars a person who has been convicted. Constitutional expert Daniel Sabsay called Menem's candidacy an "unethical and provocative" interpretation of the electoral code. He said if Menem were elected, he "could never be incorporated to that high body, because if the Senate accepted him, it would be interfering in a judicial action and incorporating a person seriously suspected of being a criminal." Meanwhile, on July 6, Judge Urso said the case was far from over and the job now was to "follow the money." The judge suspects that, of the US$100 million in arms and ammunition sold between 1991 and 1995, barely US$40 million was received by the state arms company Fabricaciones Militares. The rest supposedly augmented the private fortunes of high government officials or was paid in "illegal commissions." [Sources: Inter Press Service, 07/04/01; The New York Times, 07/05/04; Spanish news service EFE, 06/23/01, 07/04-06/01; CNN, Reuters, 07/04/01, 07/06/01; Notimex, 07/04/01, 07/08/01; Associated Press, 07/04/01, 07/10/01; La Opinion (Los Angeles), 06/25/01, 07/05/04, 07/11/01; Clarin (Argentina), 07/11/01] ARGENTINA: MORE CHARGES AGAINST FORMER REPRESSORS Several high-profile human rights cases have reached the Argentine courts in recent weeks, all involving abuses committed during the "dirty war" carried out during the 1976- 1983 military dictatorship. In the most recent cases, a couple was convicted of kidnapping a baby born to parents who were disappeared by the military; a self-confessed torturer was detained on a request from Italy; and former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla (1976-1981) was ordered to stand trial for his role in Operation Condor (see NotiSur, 2000-07-07). Couple sentenced for baby stealing Retired Col. Ceferino Landa, 69, and his wife Mercedes Beatriz Moreira, 71, were sentenced on June 28 to 9 1/2 years and 5 1/2 years in prison respectively for the theft of a baby girl born to parents who were disappeared by the military. The couple was found guilty of kidnapping Claudia Victoria Poblete Hlaczik, whose parents were among the 15,000 to 30,000 people who were murdered or disappeared during the dictatorship. Poblete's parents, Chilean Jose Poblete and Argentine Gertrudis Hlaczik, were detained in 1978 and were never seen again. The baby, who was eight months old when she was taken, was given to the couple who gave her the name Mercedes Beatriz Landa and raised her as their own child. The conviction was possible because the Argentine courts have ruled that the crime of stealing babies was not covered by the amnesty laws passed after the return to democratic rule. In March, Federal Judge Gabriel Cavallo also ruled in the Landa-Moreira case that the amnesty laws were unconstitutional (see NotiSur, 2001-03-30). "The sentence is very satisfactory, it is very strong despite not being what we had asked for [20 years for Landa and 15 for Moreira]," said Estela Carlotto, head of the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, which brought the charges. Landa admitted his responsibility and said someone in the military gave him and his wife the baby. Because she is 70 years old, Moreira can serve her sentence under house arrest. Poblete, now 23, lives with Moreira. She testified in a closed-court session at the trial that she had always suspected she was not the daughter of Landa and Moreira, but she added that she loves the couple who raised her. The "blond angel" could face extradition Federal Judge Maria Servina de Cubria ordered the preventive arrest of Alfredo Astiz on June 29 at the request of the Italian judiciary. The former navy officer turned himself in to the International Police (Interpol) on July 2, after which he was taken to a naval detention center. "Astiz," said the Italian prosecutor in the request for capture, "is one of the most vicious torturers from the Argentine military dictatorship, materially responsible for kidnapping, physical torture, and eliminating thousands of young people." The request charges Astiz, known as the blond angel, with illegal appropriation of minors in the 1976 kidnapping of Angela Maria Aieta and the 1977 kidnapping of Giovani Pegoraro and his daughter Susana Pegoraro, all Italian citizens. Pegoraro was pregnant when she was kidnapped and later gave birth to a girl whom the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo suspect is Evelyn Vazquez. Now a young woman, Vazquez has refused to submit to a DNA test to prove her identity. In exchange for taking the test, Vazquez wants a promise from judicial authorities that the results will not be used as evidence against the man she considers her father, former naval officer Policarpo Vazquez. During the dictatorship, pregnant women who were detained by the military were often killed after they gave birth and their infants given to families of military officers. In 1998, Astiz boasted to Argentine magazine Trespuntos that he was "the best-trained man in Argentina to kill journalists and politicians," and he said the navy taught him "not to build but rather to destroy," to plant bombs, infiltrate, and kill. "I'm not sorry for anything," he told the magazine. His comments cost him a three-month suspended jail sentence (see NotiSur, 1998-01-16, 1998-02-13). Astiz is protected from prosecution in Argentina for murder or torture by the amnesty laws passed in 1986 and 1987. He is also accused of kidnapping and murdering two French nuns and a 15-year-old Swedish girl. In 1990, a French court sentenced Astiz in absentia to life in prison. Since his sentencing by the Paris court, Astiz has had an international arrest warrant against him. After the trial in France, Sweden and Spain issued warrants for Astiz's arrest. In 1995, then president Carlos Saul Menem (1989-1999) decreed Astiz's early retirement from the navy as a gesture to appease France, but did not hand Astiz over to French authorities. The dismissal from the navy meant the loss of his military rank, his salary as a retired officer, and all other benefits. Human rights groups and families of the dictatorship's victims applauded Astiz's detention, though they were not optimistic that he would be extradited to Italy, given the Argentine government's protection of military leaders in similar cases. Human rights lawyers have asked the court to allow them to file briefs as "friends of the court" supporting Astiz's extradition. On July 3, Defense Minister Horacio Jaunarena said the government would reject any request from Italy for Astiz's extradition. "That is the position of government since long before the detention of Astiz," said Jaunarena in a radio interview. "It is a position of the government that goes beyond the emblematic condition of this person." Juan Pablo Baylac, undersecretary of communication, said the government held to the legal principle of territoriality, contending that if crimes are committed in Argentina the perpetrators should be tried in Argentina. Videla charges related to Operation Condor On July 10, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral indicted Jorge Videla on charges of illicit association in Operation Condor. The judge ordered that he remain under house arrest and also placed a freeze on US$1 million of Videla's assets. The indictment accuses Videla of participating with military regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with the apparent backing of the US, in the 1970s and 1980s to persecute and kill political opponents (see NotiSur, 2001-06-01). He is the first former dictator indicted in connection with Operation Condor. The 500-page indictment cited "the forced disappearance of citizens of Argentine, Chilean, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, Bolivian, and Brazilian origin, as part of the...operation of the criminal organization known as Plan Condor." Canicoba Corral said that it has been "substantiated that there was an illegitimate agreement among the military governments of the Southern Cone" to wipe out opposition under the plan. Declassified documents of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) indicate that figures in Washington played a key role in the formation of Operation Condor and in carrying out its actions. Consequently, the judge has not ruled out serving a subpoena to Henry Kissinger, US secretary of state during that period. Videla headed the de facto military junta in the first five years of military rule. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for 66 aggravated homicides, 306 kidnappings, 93 torturings and 26 robberies, but was pardoned in 1990 by then President Menem. In 1998, he was sentenced to house arrest for stealing the children of people who were disappeared by the military regime (see NotiSur, 1998-07-31). Therefore, in practice, the new indictment does not change his situation. In a recently published biography--El Dictador, written by Maria Seoane and Vicente Muleiro--Videla insists that what he did was good for Argentina. He says, "Subversion is not only what you see in the street, it is also arguments between parents and children, between parents and grandparents. It is not just killing members of the military, it is also any kind of social confrontation." He adds, "What would have become of this country if we had not exterminated the guerrillas?" [Sources: Notimex, 06/22/01, 07/02/01; Spanish news service EFE, 06/22/01, 07/03/01, 07/06/01; Inter Press Service, 03/16/01 07/02/01, 07/10/01; Reuters, 06/28/01, 07/02/01, 07/10/01; CNN, 06/29/01, 07/10/01; La Opinion (Los Angeles), 06/26/01, 07/11/01; Associated Press, Clarin (Argentina), The Miami Herald, 07/11/01] ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= pvtsa-07.13.01-03:59:41-18148