Back to Argentina, back to the big city, back to a massive new corruption and bribery scandal.
It’s sweeping up senior functionaries of the previous government, implicates the last president (and the one before that), and many business people have already turned themselves in. Also, it was dug up by a creature that’s rarely spotted out in the open these days, good old investigative journalism by a newspaper.
More on that in a minute, and a quick look at plummeting Turkish stocks. For now, a short detour into politics in general.
Much as I’d like to restrict these missives to the purely financial, to investments and how to profit from them, politics often gets in the way. Some people think that macro environments don’t matter when it comes to investing. I strongly disagree.
That’s not to say that getting into the weeds of individual investments isn’t important. Understanding the nitty gritty is essential to maximise the chances of success. But the macro picture matters as well. And, unfortunately, that means keeping at least one periscope trained on political developments.
Time for some definitions (from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary):
politic (adjective, of an action) seeming sensible and judicious in the circumstances
politics (plural noun, usually treated as singular) the activities associated with the governance of a country or area
politician (noun) 1. a person who is professionally involved in politics. 2. (chiefly US) a person who acts in a manipulative and devious way, typically to gain advancement
Hmm. Apparently it’s all in the suffix; an ‘s’ here, and an ‘ian’ there. Perhaps it’s time we all renamed our high representatives. Those ‘public servants’ engaged in the (apparently) crucial activity of wasting tax money and driving us towards bankruptcy. Let’s see, what are some antonyms for “politic”…
… indiscrete, tactless, injudicious, unwise… impolitic…
Hence a proposal: We should rename the un-ruling (or unruly) class the “impoliticians.” At least it would be closer to the mark.
But let’s get back to the latest Argentine scandal. In short, a driver for a senior ex-bureaucrat in the planning ministry has unwittingly blown open a whole can of worms.
Said driver, a man called Oscar Centeno, kept a meticulous diary for many years of multimillion-dollar money drops, meaning big bundles of (green) cash in bags. That was under the previous two governments headed by Nestor Kirchner and then his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Some of those bags were (allegedly) delivered to the private or official residences of those presidents. Many went elsewhere.
It’s estimated that the total comes to around US$160 million. But that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. Centeno was just one driver for one department. This could turn out to be the Argentine equivalent of lava jato, the umbrella name for huge bribery scams in Brazil that have run to billions of dollars. In that country, dozens of politicians and business people have found themselves behind bars.
The diaries weren’t disclosed by the driver himself. Along the way, in fear for his own wellbeing, he gave them to…
