Lava Jato sets a precedent and 'exports' its methodology to Argentina.
The testimony that former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner is expected to give this Monday (13) to the authorities of her country under suspicion of being the final recipient of bribes is based on the system of Operation Lava Jato in Brazil; along these lines, the Argentine Executive intends to give greater power to prosecutors, even above judges, and to use the mechanism of preventive detention more frequently, another legacy of Lava Jato.
247 - The testimony that former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner is expected to give this Monday (13) to the authorities of her country under suspicion of being the final recipient of bribes, supported by notes in eight notebooks by the driver Oscar Centeno, who worked with Roberto Baratta, former right-hand man of former Planning Minister Julio de Vido, is based on the systematic approach of Operation Lava Jato in Brazil.
This is the fourth time Cristina Kirchner has been called to testify for different reasons. The strategy adopted by the Argentine justice system in the Brazilian Lava Jato operation has already resulted in 16 arrests, 10 plea bargains, and one fugitive. Along these lines, President Mauricio Macron's cousin, the former owner of the construction company IECSA, Ángelo Calcaterra, cited in the Argentine "corruption diaries" as in Lava Jato, admitted to paying bribes during the governments of Néstor (2003-2007) and Cristina Kirchner (2007-2015). In light of this, seven other businessmen reportedly signed plea bargain agreements and, as in the Brazilian version, gained the right to respond to the proceedings while free.
Now, the Argentine government intends to expand the powers of prosecutors, even above those of judges, and to use the mechanism of preventive detention more frequently, another legacy of Lava Jato. In frequent meetings with his Argentine colleagues, prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol pointed to plea bargain agreements, investigations of minor figures to reach the major ones, international cooperation, and a communication strategy with society as the main pillars of the operation.
Last year, Judge Sérgio Moro participated in an event in Buenos Aires that included Argentine Judge Claudio Bonadio among the attendees. At the event, Moro spoke about the use of preventive detention as an "offensive tactic" against corruption. Bonadio is now leading the operation into the "corruption diaries" and has been adopting similar methods.