LatinNews Daily Report - 30 July 2012

SECURITY & POLITICS | Prison militancy scandal. Over the weekend (28-29 July), a local opposition daily, Clarín, alleged that the head of the Argentine prison system, Víctor Hortel, has been allowing high-security inmates and other convicts to attend political rallies held by a militant Peronist group known as ‘Vatayón Militante’. The first such reports were made by the lawyer for the Madres the Plaza de Mayo, Sergio Schocklender, who is accused of embezzling public funds intended for a social housing programme. According to Shocklender, the Peronist youth group, La Cámpora, which is effectively led by President Cristina Fernández’s son, Máximo Kirchner, is behind the recruitment. Hortel in fact is in charge of ‘Vatayón Militante’ and in April he explained the purpose of the group to a panel from the chamber of criminal cassation, defining it as a “cultural” undertaking intended to rehabilitate inmates. The opposition contends that this is just a ruse to disguise illegal political rallies. A Coalición Cívica national deputy, Carlos Comi, plans to file a formal criminal complaint against Hortel today (30 July).

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