LLA TROLL CHARGED WITH FEMICIDE

Fernando Cerimedo testified in Bolivia last Tuesday to deny charges of having masterminded the "attempted femicide" of his former partner Nadia Beller, 33, by hitmen, also downplaying his relationship with her to "an ethical and respectful friendship" since making her acquaintance last October. The prosecutors have asked the judge to remand Cerimedo in custody for the next six months, calling him a flight risk, but several stages of the investigation still lie ahead, including forensic studies of the bullets and mobile telephones involved and hearing the testimony of the hotel staff and the ambulance crew transporting the victim. Currently advising the Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira (who took office last November), the political consultant formerly part of President Javier Milei’s inner circle maintained that he last saw Beller on August 16 when she told him that she was heading for the Viru Viru Hotel, where she ended up being attacked by the hitmen. He then boarded a flight for the Bolivian capital of La Paz, he stated, but was detained. If convicted, Cerimedo could face up to 30 years in prison.

COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS

President Javier Milei had an unqualified success story to tell to the 23rd edition of the annual Council of the Americas symposium at a downtown hotel Thursday, claiming that he had already delivered on his electoral mandate by tamping down inflation with 8.3 percent growth in the course of his watch. He rubbished any notion of two-speed growth as “idiocy” while calling those complaining of being unable to make it to the end of the month “stupid.” Milei even found time to blast abortion. Similar upbeat messages were also delivered by Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger and the Economy Ministry’s José Luis Daza standing in for an ailing minister Luis Caputo.

ECONOMIC PICK-UP

Economic activity rose by 0.8 percent in June by comparison with the previous month, the INDEC national statistics bureau reported last Thursday, thus reversing two consecutive months of contraction. Economic activity thus rose 1.9 percent in the first half of the year to register 2.7 percent annual growth since the previous June.

RIGI EXPANDED

The government has tweaked the regulation of the RIGI (Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones) incentive scheme for major investments to include projects to improve rail infrastructure and the technological sector via Decree 748/2026, published last Tuesday in the Official Gazette. The new rules cover railway works for the construction, renovation, gauge modernisation and electrification of rail tracks, as well as ancillary infrastructure such as signals, bridges, etc., while giving priority to freight transport and productive capacity.Technological projects are also given a green light if they make a positive difference of at least 50 percent to the existing plant with a useful life of at least 10 years while the floor for the investment is set at US$250 million.

LAMELAS DUCKS CONGRESS

United States Ambassador Peter Lamelas ignored a midweek summons to appear in Congress to explain his pressures against Chinese investments in strategic areas like Vaca Muerta – a no-show which did not surprise the Kirchnerite deputy Aldo Leiva (Partido Justicialista-Chaco), the chairman of the Committee for Cooperative Issues launching the initiative in response to the Neúquen cooperative CALF’s complaints about “pressures” and “threats” over its Huawei contracts. Kirchnerite caucus chief Germán Mártinez (Unión por la Patria-Santa Fe) commented that Ambassador Lamelas “squeezes in private but does not dare give explanations in public.” Lamelas was under fire for his statements at the AmCham Energy Summit on August 13 when he said that the use of Chinese technology in key sectors like Vaca Muerta could hamper future investments. “China requires its companies to give the Chinese state access to any data passing through its technology and artificial intelligence networks. Understand this, any such data is all controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” he warned, concluding: “That is not on and nor will it help to bring foreign investment to Vaca Muerta,” investments which extend to data centres as well as to the shale deposits. On other fronts, Lamelas insisted in a weekend interview on Washington’s neutrality in the Malvinas question, highlighted the military cooperation between the United States and Argentina in other areas such as the acquisition of F-16 jet fighters and promised Argentine entry into the US Visa Waiver Program before completion of his mission.

IS PETER THIEL AN ORC?

The Palermo Chico mansion of United States billionaire Peter Thiel (valued at US$12 million) was last Monday the scene of an original protest by several dozen activists all dressed up as Gandalf the Grey, the white wizard of the J.R.R. Tolikien saga Lord of the Rings displaying a banner reading “You shall not pass” and chanting insults to repudiate the tycoon’s entry into the Argentine energy sector via the purchase of one percent of Vista Energy shares (active in Vaca Muerta) for US$76 million. Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir (the latter named after a Tolkien talisman) and an early investor in Facebook, has a personal fortune estimated at US$32 billion, making him one of the 100 richest persons on the planet. Apart from Thiel, local Tolkien fans span the political spectrum from Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger to far left Peronist deputy Juan Grabois.

INCRIMINATING VIDEOS

The case against Jésica Cirio and Martín Insaurralde gained added traction with new videos showing the interior of their San Vicente mansion and proving that the property was “cleared” ahead of the raid on October 24, 2023, following Insaurralde’s scandalous yacht trip with the model Sofía Clerici. The images broadcast by a television news channel showing different rooms of the luxurious property permit a comparison of the state of the house before the raid with various elements subsequently not found. One of the videos covers Cirio’s dressing-room with garments and footwear by the dozen plus a glam room. Together with a gymnasium with a professional pool table among other items, an enormous living-room with luxurious furniture and a table for 12 and a guest room with a private bathroom. One of the most relevant points for the case were the empty wardrobe drawers where the bags of dollars had been kept.

ANOTHER LOCKDOWN RAP

Ex-president Alberto Fernández and former first lady Fabiola Yáñez face criminal charges after a warm-up aboard the presidential aircraft Tango 01 a few hours before the latter’s now notorious 39th birthday party in Olivos residence was revealed. The lawsuit was filed by the lawyer Ignacio Barrios after the journalist Luis Gasulla revealed two such violations of the strict restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic on July 14 and August 10, 2020 with the birthday party on the former date. According to the lawsuit, the preparations for the airborne celebrations included “refrigeration, catering, a birthday cake, sushi or salmon, alcoholic drinks and music.” The main accused were named as Yáñez, Fernández (who apparently did not participate in the Tango 01 party but authorised it, also financing it with public funds) and former presidential pilot Leonardo Barone. Barrios affirmed that there were photos and videos to establish these facts and called upon the competent state authorities to confirm or deny them.

MARADONA MISTRIAL?

The trial looking into the death of football Diego Maradona was adjourned for a week last Thursday until August 27 in order to verify whether the forensic experts were using the right medical studies. Chief judge Alberto Gaig ordered the medical analyses in the clinic and the private healthcare scheme where Maradona was attended to be confiscated "with the aim establishing in each case whether they corresponded to Diego Armando Maradona or some other person."

UWC TALK

The prestigious neurologist Dr Conrado Estol last Tuesday addressed the University Women’s Club on “Longevity: Rethinking How to Age Well,” which could be rephrased as its punchline of “dying young at an advanced age.” Always witty and often original, his advice of how the right diet, exercise, sleep patterns, socialisation etc. can keep old age at bay is perhaps best explained by the man himself since he is open to writing an article for this newspaper – suffice it to say for now that he insists on the need for medicine to be preventive as much as reactive. MS