Latin America
Related: About this forumArgentina president accused of conflict of interest after company's debt forgiven
Mauricio Macri faces accusation in court after government forgave $128m debt owed by Socma, his familys company, which ran post office
Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Tuesday 14 February 2017 19.17 EST
Argentinas President Mauricio Macri has been accused in court of a conflict of interests after his government forgave a $128m debt owed by his familys company.
The case involves the Macri family firm Socma, which in 1997 took charge of Argentinas privatized postal service under the free-market government of former president Carlos Menem.
The postal service Correo Argentino was renationalized in 2003 after alleged mismanagement by the Macri firm and for failing to pay the concession fee for several years in a row. At the time, Socma claimed that the investments it had made in the postal service compensated for their failure to pay the agreed fee.
The Macri familys debt with the state was of 450m Argentinian pesos, which was about $128m at the 2003 exchange rate.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/14/argentina-president-mauricio-macri-conflict-interest
tenorly
(2,037 posts)But they may just have it backwards: Trump's xenophobic, self-dealing ways may just instead be the Macri mold.
The Macris, after all, have been unloading bad business debts this way since their fraudulent, $124 million bailout by the Argentine Central Bank in 1982. And Trump has been personal friends of theirs for over 30 years.
Thank you for posting these news, Judi; quite the scandal in Argentina at the moment, as you can imagine. Here's more on that if you're interested: http://www.democraticunderground.com/110854632
P/S: I should note the debt figures differ somewhat because Uki Goñi at The Guardian should have used the current figure as cited by the Argentine Solicitor General's office, which given Argentina's high inflation rate has had to be adjusted quite a bit from the 2003 figure (to 4.28 billion pesos, or $270 million).
Thanks again!
Judi Lynn
(160,217 posts)One really dreads finding out what his next move is, currently.
Who would expect slimy politicians to grab so much from others for themselves?
It is shocking. It keeps one on the edge of one's seat waiting for the grand piano to fall on their heads. I think it's late!