Politicians...politicians everywhere..........Argentina's Ex-President Menem Arrested in Arms Case (Update3)
By John Lyons
Buenos Aires, June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina's former President Carlos Menem, leader of the nation's main opposition party, was arrested by a federal judge investigating illegal arms sales to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s.
Menem was detained at a courthouse in Buenos Aires shortly after he began testifying before the investigating judge, said Daniel Scioli, a lower house deputy and close political associate of the former president.
Menem's arrest raises the prospect of added political instability as campaigns for October Congressional elections begin, and increases difficulties for the ruling Alianza coalition to get legislation through the opposition-controlled Senate, analysts said.
``It's a problem for the government to have him prisoner. He's going to play the role of victim and be very hard to keep quiet despite the arrest,'' said political analyst and pollster Ricardo Rouvier. However, he said, ``this isn't going to be an institutional crisis.''
Menem was held as the suspected leader of a syndicate of former government officials and associates who allegedly organized the illegal sale of 6,500 tons of weapons from Argentina to Croatia and Ecuador when such sales were prohibited in the early 1990s.
Menem could face as many as 10 years in prison if found guilty in the case, legal analysts said.
Opposition Protest
Opposition senators shut down the Senate for a day when Menem was first called to testify in April, and yesterday's session was canceled because so many Peronists were absent, attending a strategy session at a hotel. Proposed government legislation, such as a plan to revamp the fixed-exchange rate system that has been at the center of the Argentine economy for a decade, is stalled in the Senate.
Still, the general weakness of the Peronist party, which is divided into factions backing at least four presidential candidates, may limit the impact of the arrest, analysts said.
``Already, people are distancing themselves from him politically,'' political consultant Felipe Noguera said. ``I think things will be strangely normal on Monday.''
Other prominent Peronists, such as Cordoba Governor Jose Manuel de la Sota, a likely presidential candidate, said yesterday that an arrest would not shake the party. Rouvier said he expected a Menem rival to move quickly to attempt to oust Menem as party leader and take control.
Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo, who signed decrees authorizing the arms sales while serving under Menem, said last night he would not be concerned by the arrest and would testify if called to do so.
Boost for De La Rua
The arrest may ultimately be a boost for President Fernando de la Rua, potentially reviving his anti-corruption image and forcing his opponents to rally around a ``negative issue,'' Noguera said.
De la Rua called for calm and vowed to respect the autonomy of the judicial system in the case.
``This is not the beginning or the end of this case, which has been investigated for a long time,'' de la Rua in a televised new conference. ``It would not be prudent to comment on it because the most important thing is the independence of the judiciary.''
The investigation centers on arms shipments between 1991 and 1995 that were ostensibly headed for Panama and Venezuala but ended up in Croatia and Ecuador. Sales to those countries were prohibited by separate international embargoes.
The investigation is in its so-called ``instruction'' phase, during which the judge and the chief prosecutor collect evidence and take depositions from witnesses and suspects. Investigators would send the case to trial.
Associates Arrested
Several former Menem associates have been detained in the six- year investigation. General Martin Balza, who ran the army under Menem, was arrested yesterday when he arrived at the criminal court to testify in the case. Emir Yoma, Menem's former brother-in- law and close associate, and Erman Gonzalez, the former defense minister, were both arrested last month.
The former president, whose 10-year term in office ended in 1999 and is planning to seek office again, said yesterday he is ``not guilty of anything and my freedom here in Argentina is totally guaranteed.''
Analysts said the arrest would make his planned 2003 run for the presidency all the more unlikely.
Because of his age, the 70-year old Menem is eligible for house arrest under Argentine law. Local television reported that he was taken by helicopter under guard to house arrest at a ranch outside Buenos Aires. The ranch's owner, Armando Gostanian, is a wealthy businessman who ran the national mint under Menem and helped fund publicity campaigns that included printing imitation peso bills emblazoned with an image of Menem's face.
Menem took office in 1989, inheriting an economy plagued by four-digit inflation and crumbling infrastructure. He is credited with taming hyperinflation in 1991 by tying the peso at par with the U.S. dollar and began an aggressive campaign to modernize the nation by selling off state-owned companies. At the end of Menem's term, Argentina boasted the regions most advanced telecommunications systems.
When he stepped down in December 1999, Menem seemed headed for retirement with a public approval rating as low as 14 percent. Late last year his popularity jumped briefly to 21 percent after media coverage of his romance with Cecilia Bolocco, a former Chilean beauty queen and television personality, whom he married late last month. |
