Argentina News Roundup: 8th April 2014

Long Prison Sentences for Ten Convicted in Marita Verón Case: Judges in Tucumán today handed prison sentences for the ten people convicted of the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of Marita Verón. The harshest sentences of 22 years were given to brothers José and Gonzalo Gómez, considered the leaders of the organisation that captured Verón and forced her into prostitution. Daniela Milhein and Alejandro González, found guilty of holding Verón prisoner in their house, received 18 years each. Carlos Luna, Cynthia Gaitán, Domingo Andrada, María Márquez, Juan Derobertis and Mariana Bustos, all considered “necessary participants” in the crime, received sentences ranging from 10 to 17 years. “I was hoping for more, but we achieved some justice today,” said Susana Trimarco, Verón’s mother, after the verdict. “We are going to keep fighting until the day we know what they did with her.”

The tribunal was ordered with delivering the sentence by the Supreme Court of Tucumán, which in December partially overturned an original ruling to acquit all defendants. Verón disappeared on 3rd April 2002, when she was 23, in the provincial capital San Miguel de Tucumán. Sex workers in prostitution rings have spotted her in several locations in the country, including La Rioja, Tucumán and Córdoba, according to reports.

Proposal to Investigate ‘Economic Collaboration’ During Dictatorship: Legislator Héctor Recalde introduced yesterday an initiative to investigate civilian and business collaboration with the military during 1976-83 dictatorship. The bill, which is supported by the Centre for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and the National Securities Commission, proposes establishing of a bicameral commission to identify “those that collaborated with the dictatorship, and from which companies.” It calls for an in-depth report about the consequences of the economic, monetary, industrial and commercial policies of the dictatorship, and those who where complicit in their application. If approved, the report will be presented 180 days after the commission is created, and will pass any suspected illegal activity onto the judiciary to begin proceedings. Julián Domínguez, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said the bill would allow the country to discover “the civil face of the worst dictatorship in our country,” adding that over 600 companies were illegally appropriated by state terrorism during the period.

Heavy Rains Leave Flooding and 3,000 Evacuated Across Argentina: Days of heavy rains have caused flooding and damage across much of Argentina, with around 3,000 people evacuated. Neuquén remains the worst affected province, with up to 1,500 still evacuated as more rain last night added to damage caused over the weekend. The provinces of Río Negro, Entre Ríos, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Chubut and Córdoba were also hit hard by recent storms, resulting in flooding and landslides. In the province of Buenos Aires, 100 people were evacuated after the Luján river burst its banks, while a collapsed road left a 40m crater in Ramos Mejía, west of the capital. In the city of Buenos Aires, which suffered mild flooding overnight, a lightning strike hit an empty LAN plane at the Jorge Newberry airport, injuring one maintenance worker. The bad weather has now moved on for much of the affected areas, though the National Meteorological Service maintains an alert for further rains in Río Negro, and parts of Neuquén and Chubut this afternoon.

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