Venez/Argentina: "Suitcase Scandal" Another US Blunder

Suitcase Scandal" is Another U.S. Foreign Policy Blunder

By Mark Weisbrot

The now infamous "suitcase scandal" has deeply alienated the new
Argentine government and is likely to further sully Washington's
reputation in Latin America.

On December 20 the U.S. government indicted four Venezuelans and one
Uruguayan for allegedly acting as foreign agents without notifying the
U.S. government. The charges stem from an incident that occurred on
August 4 when Guido Antonini Wilson, a Venezuelan/American with dual
citizenship, was stopped at Argentine customs with about $800,000 cash
in a suitcase.

The U.S. Justice Department alleges that the money was intended for the
election campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was elected
president of Argentina on October 28. Of course this would not violate
U.S. law, even if it were true; nor would the Feds' charge that the
money came from the Venezuelan government. What makes it a Federal case
is the charge that the defendants, allegedly acting on behalf of the
Venezuelan government, tried to convince Antonini to keep quiet about
the alleged origin and destination of the money.

Thus the men are indicted for failing to notify the U.S. Attorney
General that they were acting as agents of a foreign government
(Venezuela).

The charges have deeply alienated the new Argentine government, which
by all accounts was poised to increase its engagement with the United
States. President Cristina Fernandez immediately dismissed them as
"garbage," and her government accused Washington of using "dirty
tricks" to intimidate her and attempt to drive a wedge between
Argentina and Venezuela. Her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner,
demanded that the U.S. surrender the fugitive Antonini, for whom the
Argentine government has repeatedly sought extradition from the United
States.

The case is clearly a major foreign policy blunder for the Bush
Administration. There is no love lost in relations with Venezuela,
which have been in the toilet since the Administration backed a failed
military coup against President Hugo Chavez in 2002. But U.S.-Argentine
relations have been cordial, despite the country's deep resentment of
the Washington-run International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its role in
Argentina's severe economic crisis (1998-2002), and were set to improve.

Not only Argentina, but most of the region, will likely see this
prosecution as a gross political interference on the part of United
States government in the internal affairs of its neighbors. No one will
believe, nor should they, that it is merely a matter of "enforcing U.S.
laws," as State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the media.

Edmund McWilliams, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer here in
Washington, cited other cases where "the Justice Department
subordinated the pursuit of justice to Administration foreign policy
objectives." He noted that this prosecution "may have been at the
instigation of the Administration itself."

It sure looks that way. There has never been an indictment under this
law (18 USC  951), or its accompanying conspiracy statute (18 USC 
371) - without there at least being another accusation involving some
kind of alleged espionage, and some kind of potential U.S. national
security issue. In this case, it is really only the failure to notify
the Attorney General that is the basis of the alleged crime. And the
case may be even weaker than that: almost all of the indictment is
devoted to the conspiracy charge, which indicates that the government
may not even have any real evidence that the defendants were acting
under orders from the Venezuelan government.

This particular case also does not smell good on its merits. The star
witness is the man with the suitcase (Antonini), who has not been
charged. Since he is wanted for money laundering in Argentina, he might
well see his current liberty as dependent on saying and doing whatever
the U.S. government wants.

So far the prosecution hasn't released any evidence that either the
Argentine government or the Venezuelan government were involved in
whatever the bag man was doing with the cash. Other things do not add
up: Cristina Kirchner had no serious electoral challenge (the second
place finisher got 23 percent to her 45 percent). Why would she risk
taking $800,000 from Venezuela? And why send a shady businessman from
the U.S. through Argentine customs, when the cash could have been
placed securely in a piece of Venezuelan diplomatic luggage, which by
law cannot be searched?

The political decision to prosecute this case is just one more example
of Washington's failed policies in Latin America, as it has repeatedly
isolated itself by trying to isolate Venezuela from its neighbors.
George W. Bush ran for President as "a uniter, not a divider." He
continues to unite ever more of the world - against him.

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