IT was the chronicle of a ruling foretold. Federal Judge Claudio Bonadío indicted former Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, accusing her of heading a corruption network that demanded and accepted bribes in exchange for public works contracts.
As is well known, this is not an isolated case. The political subjection of the judicial branch to the right wing has resulted in legal proceedings against progressive leaders of the region, which are rigged beforehand.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has preferred to maintain control over Latin America by means of a “democratic” appearance, although the reality indicates the opposite. Rather, they entail the use of judicial and legislative powers against those that the U.S. finds an “inconvenience.”
Dilma Rousseff, Fernando Lugo, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Rafael Correa, Jorge Glas... all have been subject to this strategy. It forms part of the new non-conventional warfare tactics also known as “Lawfare.”
The objective is to discredit these figures and the political forces they represent, equating them with common criminals and disqualifying them electorally.
It is a “judicial war” deployed through the illegitimate use of domestic or international law with the intention of smearing opponents, paralyzing them both financially and politically, and preventing them from presenting their candidacies for public office.
Lawfare is being waged with increasing intensity in the region, accompanied by neoliberal forces that define the new strategy against leftist political movements.
This judicial war represents a serious setback in the institutional consolidation of the countries of the region. It is part of the game that they want us to play, of the lie they want to impose on us, in which the media plays a crucial role. Are they so afraid of what these figures have and continue to represent today, that they must initiate proceedings against them without the slightest respect for their rights, or the collective efforts they have promoted? It would seem so.
