Argentine Ex-President Macri To Be Investigated For Espionage

Dolores City Federal Judge Martin Bava prohibited former President Mauricio Macri from leaving Argentina so as to investigate his involvement in the illegal espionage of the relatives of the 44 victims of the ARA San Juan submarine's sinking in November 2017.

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The case began with a complaint by the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) Director Cristina Caamaño, who presented three external hard drives with AFI non-justify photos and intelligence reports on the relatives during the Macri administration (2015-2019). 

"Instead of prioritizing the search for potential survivors, Macri focused on carrying out these tasks to know what the relatives’ demands to the State would be,” Caamaño said, stressing that the AFI spent significant technological and logistical resources in the espionage. Bava also prosecuted former AFI Directors Gustavo Arribas and Silvia Majdalani, who had denied the charges against them in an inquest statement in July.

"It is clear that intelligence agents did not execute the illegal actions by self-will but responded to the orders of their superiors, who were subordinate to Macri," Caamaño argued.

On Nov. 15, 2017, the ARA San Juan submarine left Comodoro Rivadavia City for a patrol operation in an area frequented by fishing pirates. Water entered into the submarine’s battery ventilation system and caused a short circuit that set fire to its battery room.

The submarine disappeared after the crew reported the accident. On Nov. 17, 2018, the ship Seabed Constructor found the submarine shipwrecked at 907 meters below sea level.

"When everyone said the cause was lost, we did not give up. We finally have peace,” Luis Tagliapietra, a relative of a crew member, said in tears upon learning of the find.