Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom Alicia Castro has responded an article by Britain’s Financial Times that said the “mysterious death” of AMIA special prosecutor “damaged” Argentina’s democracy.
In a letter published today in the British newspaper, Ms. Castro affirmed the country’s democratic life was “young though not fragile.”
On Friday last week, the Financial Times published an article by John Paul Rathbone saying Argentines don’t believe the Nisman case will be resolved
“Mr. Rathbone considers that no Argentine believes the case will be resolved. That is a crude generalization. As Mr. Rathbone correctly points out, the Argentine judicial power is independent,” the ambassador stated in her column entitled “Argentina defends the values of Peace, Truth and Justice.”
“The tragic death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, currently under judicial investigation, does not damage nor puts at risk the Argentine democracy. For many years, Argentineans have lived under cruel military dictatorships, many of the supported by foreign powers and we are thoroughly aware of the value of democratic institutions,” the Argentine official added stressing the South American country was a leading example in the resolution of “complex” cases such as the “investigation and punishment of crimes against humanity committed during the last military dictatorship.”
“The Argentine model of transitional justice has been recognized as an example by the international community, just like the policy of human rights (conducted by) our government.”
In his opinion piece, Mr. Rathbone considered Argentina a “flawed democracy” and a “rogue state.”
“Ours is a progressive and dynamic democracy, like all democracies in our region are united in the defense of the values of Peace, Truth and Justice,” Alicia Castro hit back also denying Rathbone’s statement about a “conspiracy” involving the Argentine state – “No Argentine believes this conspiracy will be solved, because of the complicity of so many sectors,” he said last week. A “totally false” hypothesis, Ms. Castro responded today.
“President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has taken all the necessary measures to facilitate the judicial investigation; the release of intelligence classified files possible tied to the investigation, among them.”
Source: Buenos Aires Herald