Argentine social leader files a lawsuit against the President over IMF agreement

The social leader denounced that the money received by the IMF has been used to stabilize the dollar for electoral purposes

August 01, 2019 by Peoples Dispatch
Demonstration by social leaders outside the Central Bank of Argentina, in Buenos Aires, on July 25. (Photo: Infobae)

On July 25, Argentine social leader and lawyer, Juan Grabois, filed a criminal lawsuit against President Mauricio Macri, Finance Minister Nicolás Dujovne, Christine Lagarde, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and David Lipton, the current managing director of the IMF, for illicit association, fraudulent administration, abuse of authority and violation of the duties of a public official, in relation to the USD 54 billion deal signed by the government with the IMF.

The complaint document explains that the money received by the IMF has been used to “contribute to the re-election of the current government with a fictitious and temporary stability of the foreign exchange market” and demands the aforementioned government officials and the IMF agents along with others involved be prosecuted under the articles 174 (section 5), 210 and 248 of the Criminal Code.

The document also demands the complete and absolute nullity of the agreements, as its main purpose was “to ensure the outflow of capital”.

“We are going to denounce Macri, Dujovne, Lagarde and Lipton, who are responsible for the biggest looting in the history of democratic Argentina. They used up more than USD 13 billion only to invest them outside Argentina and indebted all our people just to gain an electoral advantage and converted our economy into a time bomb that, with whoever wins, is going to explode in December,” said Grabois in a video shared on social media by the social movement, Frente Patria Grande, to which Grabois is associated.

The same day, a protest was staged outside the Central Bank of Argentina in Buenos Aires by a group of social leaders with the banner of “Macri and Lagarde: illicit association” and fake dollars with the face of the president and the former head of the IMF.

The presidential elections are scheduled to happen in the month of October in Argentina and the upcoming months are crucial for all the political parties. Since the beginning of the year, in the form of social protest, Argentines have been expressing their indignation towards the misgovernance of Macri’s right-wing government as well as towards the austerity measures announced after the deal.

Macri’s electoral promises of change and progress, zero-poverty, reducing inflation and providing better employment opportunities have fallen apart. His administration’s policies have created an unstable and vulnerable economy. The social and economic condition of the country is deteriorating; the value of the Argentine peso is falling; employment, poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, inflation have pushed the majority of Argentine working class to the extent where they are everyday struggling to make ends meet. Amid all this, this Lawsuit can prove to be harmful for the electoral future of his party –Cambiemos– as it has legally challenged its policies.

Translation of the tweet: “The thieves in white gloves made a profit of 13 billion dollars that we, the Argentines, will have to pay. They are responsible for the debt owed to the IMF and that was used to finance the election campaign, creating an #EconomicBomb to stabilize the dollar until the upcoming elections”