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News > Argentina

Argentina: Timerman, Persecuted Former Foreign Minister, Passes

  • Hector Timerman died at only 65 years old.

    Hector Timerman died at only 65 years old. | Photo: Twitter

Published 30 December 2018
Opinion

Supporters of former Foreign Minister Hector Timerman condemned the political and judicial persecution he had to endure as he battled cancer.

Hector Timerman, Argentina’s foreign minister during the presidency of Cristina Kirchner, died Sunday in the midst of what his supporters call a “shameful” political and judicial persecution bolstered by the government of Mauricio Macri.

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Timerman died surrounded by his loved ones after a longs struggle against liver cancer, which he had to fight at the same time as he defended himself of accusations of treason fanned by Jewish institutions, including AMIA (Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina) and DAIA (the Delegation of Israeli Associations in Argentina).

Persecution against Timerman began when the ruling opposition party Cambiemos and prosecutor Alberto Nisman accused former President Kirchner and Timerman of covering up a 1994 car bomb attack on AMIA, which killed 85 people, through a Memorandum of Understanding signed with Iran during the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Timerman’s supporters took to social media to voice their frustration over the persecution against him.

“Timerman was part of the long list of political prisoners in our country. Unjustly harassed, persecuted and stripped of his right to health. He faced everything with absolute dignity,” legislator Cristina Alvarez tweeted.

Timerman and Kirchner were singled out despite the fact that the memorandum was approved by both chambers of Congress. The United States government went as far as suspending Timerman’s visa to continue an experimental cancer treatment he had started in New York City.

Timerman denied having favored Iranian suspects of the bomb attack and insisted the memorandum only sought to unlock a case that had idle and remained unsolved for 25 years. Even Ronald Noble, head of Interpol between 200 and 2014 said accusations against Timerman were false.

Local newspaper Pagina 12 stresses “the extraordinary thing is that Tehran refused to ratify the signature, that is, those supposedly favored by the Memorandum, in the end, did not want it.”

The legislators of the Front for Victory Party tweeted: “Until forever great comrade Hector Timerman. Your wholeness and struggle for truth in the face of political, judicial, and media persecution will be remembered in the best pages of our movement.”

Former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and Bolivian President Evo Morales were among the Latin American leaders to offer condolences and praise Timerman's legacy in the struggle for sovereign regional integration. 

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