argentine ‘spy novel’ deepens
Buenos Aires • A prosecutor whose mysterious death has rocked Argentina’s government confided to an opposition congresswoman he believed his case against President Cristina Kirchner was going to cost him his position, the lawmaker said Friday.
Alberto Nisman was found shot dead in his bathroom on Jan. 18. The discovery came the day before he was to appear in Congress to detail his allegations Ms. Kirchner helped Iran cover up the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre, in which 85 people were killed. No one has ever been charged in the 20-year-old incident.
The president and Iran deny the accusations.
Congresswoman Laura Alonso said Mr. Nisman spoke to her privately on Jan. 14. She said he feared for his safety and for his daughters, confirming what several other friends and colleagues have said.
Ms. Alonso said three days before he died, he sent her a text message saying, “I’m going with everything,” a reference to the case he was going to present to lawmakers.
She said Mr. Nisman told her, “The government knows that I’m bringing this investigation forward.”
Ms. Alonso said even though the prosecutor felt threatened, he was committed to his investigation. She rejected the possibility he killed himself.
Investigators initially said it appeared Mr. Nisman committed suicide — a gun was found near the body in his locked apartment — then later said they also were investigating the possibility of a homicide.
Ms. Kirchner also espoused the suicide theory initially, before saying the prosecutor had been killed. Investigators have tried to blame the man who lent Mr. Nisman the gun after he said he needed in order to protect himself.
Ms. Alonso said in another text message sent on Jan. 6, Mr. Nisman wrote from London to say he was cutting short a vacation to return to Argentina. Several days later, he publicly accused Ms. Kirchner of the coverup.
Investigators, however, have rejected the idea he altered travel plans, noting he returned on Jan. 12 in keeping with his original plane ticket.
Conspiracy theories swirl around the prosecutor’s death and the 1994 bombing. Over the last few weeks, thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets for protests and vigils demanding justice.
This week, the waters were further muddied with the news the country’s former spy chief — fired by Ms. Kirchner in December — would be called in to talk to investigators.
But so far, Antonio Stiuso has not been located.
His testimony could be key to determining whether Ms. Kirchner is able to survive the storm in the waning months of her presidency, or whether the deepening scandal will swamp her administration.
Mr. Stiuso, a shadowy intelligence agent known by the name “Jaime,” had helped Mr. Nisman in investigating the community centre bombing.
Without naming Mr. Stiuso specifically, the president has suggested rogue intelligence agents played a role in Mr. Nisman’s death and, last week, she urged Congress to disband the agency.
“The government is trying to regain control of the narrative and this is part of it,” said Maria Victoria Murillo, an expert in Latin American politics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
“The whole thing is like a spy novel and he’s a spy, so it makes sense for the government to put him at the centre of the story.”
Mr. Stiuso, who, press reports say, ran a vast wire-tapping operation, is said to have been one of the most powerful people in the country, a figure similar to the controversial former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover.
Most Argentines, however, would be unable to recognize him. He keeps a low profile and the only image circulated of him is a once-classified black and white photo of a young-looking man released a decade ago by one of his foes.