Sunday, January 31, 2016

Autoritarian edges in Macri's government in Argentina

TeleSUR has an update on the repressive measures that Maruicio Macri's government in Argentina is taking against some popular leaders: Son of Argentine Indigenous Leader Charged for 'Threats' 01/31/2016.

The indigenous leader mentioned is Milagro Sala, and her son is Sergio Chorolque. This looks pretty hinky to me:

Chorolque's mother Milagro Sala has already been described by some human rights activists as the first political prisoner of the new government of President Mauricio Macri.

The well-known indigenous leader, founder of the 70,000 member Tupac Amaru organization, was arrested on January 16 in the Jujuy on charges of inciting violence after protesting in a month-long sit in against Governor Gerardo Morales, who ordered her arrest.

A judge cleared Sala of those charges on Friday, but before she walked out of jail she was handed down a new set of accusations and ordered to stay behind bars while investigations into charges of “illicit association, fraud, and extortion” are launched at the request of the Jujuy government, local media reported. [my emphasis]
The Buenos Aires Herald reports on Chorloque's arrest in Prosecutor now accuses Milagro Sala’s son of threats 01/31/2016:
The Jujuy judiciary keeps Milagro Sala’s inner circle under the magnifying glass. Her son was accused of threatening social leader Carlos “Perro” Santillán in Jujuy province.

The charges were pressed by prosecutor Aldo Lozano mere hours after Judge Gastón Mercau said that his mother should remain at the Alto Comedero penitentiary facing charges of conspiracy and alleged fraud in a housing programme.

Lozano decided to open an investigation against Sergio Chorolque Sala after Santillán reported that he threatened him when they met on the street days ago.

However, Santillán — the leader of the municipal workers in Jujuy province — has also been under scrutiny after the Socialist Workers’ Party (PTS) reported that he threatened union leader Alejandro Vilca in Alto Comedero last year.

If Milagro Sala’s son were found guilty of threatening Santillán — an iconic social leader in the 1990s who later became an opponent to Kirchnerism, the young man could be given a two-year sentence, which will not place him behind bars.
Ezequiel Adamovsky wrote earlier in January, "The extent to which Argentina’s government has fallen into illegality has surprised both Macri’s allies and opponents." (Mauricio Macri: A Rather Authoritarian Beginning TeleSUR 01/02/2016)

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