VIDEO: Thousands of Argentine Catholics on Friday renounced their membership in the church to protest its opposition to a bill that would have legalized abortion in Pope Francis's homeland, a group said

VIDEO: Thousands of Argentine Catholics on Friday renounced their membership in the church to protest its opposition to a bill that would have legalized abortion in Pope Francis's homeland, a group said pic.twitter.com/d31cLWrzHt

— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 25, 2018

Defiant Kirchner before judge in sweeping anti-corruption probe

Yahoo – AFP, Nina NEGRON, August 14, 2018

As a senator, Cristina Kirchner enjoys congressional immunity from imprisonment,
though not from prosecution (AFP Photo/EITAN ABRAMOVICH)

Buenos Aires (AFP) - Former Argentine president Cristina Kirchner appeared before a judge leading a major probe into corruption under her government Monday, hitting out at what she described as "judicial persecutions" to rule her out of next year's elections.

More than a dozen elite businessmen and former government officials were arrested after La Nacion newspaper reported on August 1 that millions in bribes were delivered by a ministerial chauffeur to Kirchner's residences, both during her presidency and that of her late husband Nestor.

The driver's meticulous records of the cash deliveries -- allegedly payments from business leaders in exchange for public works contracts -- form the basis of the investigation.

Dressed in a trouser suit and waving to supporters, a defiant Kirchner pushed her way past journalists into Judge Claudio Bonadio's court in Buenos Aires where she denounced the case as an example of the political persecution she has faced under her right-wing successor Mauricio Macri.

"This is a new regional strategy to outlaw leaders, movements and political forces that expanded rights and allowed millions of people out of poverty during the first decade and a half of the 21st Century," Kirchner wrote Monday on Twitter.

As a senator, Kirchner enjoys congressional immunity from imprisonment, though not prosecution. She is facing trial in several other corruption cases and Bonadio has petitioned the Senate to lift her immunity.

He wants to search Kirchner's properties for evidence in the "corruption notebooks" case, so called because the driver, Oscar Centeno, recorded over a decade of cash drops in a set of notebooks.

Kirchner is facing trial in several other corruption cases (AFP Photo/EITAN

ABRAMOVICH)

According to Centeno's bombshell evidence, the Kirchners' residence in Buenos Aires was the venue for the handover of millions of dollars in cash, with others taking place at the Casa Rosada government headquarters and the Olivos official presidential residence.

Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli has said a total of $160 million in bribes was handed over during a 10-year period from 2005-15.

"There is no doubt that the copybooks describe in detail the way in which the Kirchners raised money illegally for seven years without any alarm going off at any oversight agency," said Nicolas Solari of the consultancy Poliarquia.

So far, eight business leaders have confessed and struck plea-bargain deals.

Angelo Calcaterra, a cousin of Macri, acknowledged having ordered the payment of cash requested as a bribe in order to receive government contracts.

Testifying before the judge, he said he thought this was a mandatory election campaign contribution.

'Persecution'

Bonadio suspects the 65-year-old of being the main beneficiary of a system of corruption funded by the public works sector, via the planning ministry.

Refusing to answer questions, the former president instead hit out angrily at what she said was blatant political persecution engineered by Macri.

"From the moment the engineer Mauricio Macri assumed power I have been subjected to multiple judicial persecutions," Kirchner said in a written statement delivered to the court.

The aim, she said, was her "political elimination" ahead of next year's presidential elections. She has long railed against Bonadio as her tormentor-in-chief.

"Since December 15,2015, six criminal cases have been produced against me, all in Comodoro Py (the Federal Court). Of the six, five have been opened, or being investigated by, Bonadio."

Supporters of the former Argentine president wait outside her apartment in Buenos 

Aires (AFP Photo/EITAN ABRAMOVICH)

For all her battles with the judicial system, Kirchner remains one of Argentina's most popular figures, leader of the opposition to Macri's center-right government.

On Sunday, after confirming she would attend Monday's hearing, she called on her supporters not to demonstrate outside the courthouse.

Monday's court appearance was the fourth time Kirchner has appeared before Bonadio, who is investigating the leftist former president in a slew of other corruption cases. They include alleged foreign exchange manipulation and the signing of a memorandum with Iran that Bonadio argues effectively protected from prosecution Iranian suspects in the deadly 1994 bombing of Argentine Jewish centers.

Big Business

Centeno, who has been questioned by Bonadio and authenticated the notebooks given to La Nacion, worked as a chauffeur for the former deputy planning minister Roberto Barrata, who is also under arrest.

The case involves some of Argentina's biggest business leaders, among them Calcaterra, former directors of the Italo-Argentine company Techint and construction industry leaders.

The notebooks, said Leandro Despouy, a former government auditor general, "implicate a large number of businessmen, not just government officials."

He said the case could end up being as big in Argentina as the ground-shaking "Car Wash" corruption investigation in neighboring Brazil, which has ensnared and sullied many prominent members of the Brazilian political and business elite.

New UN rights chief Bachelet will face world of hate: Guterres

Yahoo – AFP, Carole LANDRY, August 10, 2018

Two-time former Chilean prime minister Michelet Bachelet, who was tortured by
the Pinochet regime, will face a world of rising hate as she assume the post of
UN human rights chief, the United Nations secretary-general has warned

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet will face a world of rising hate and inequality as the newly-appointed UN human rights chief, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday.

The General Assembly approved the appointment of Bachelet to be the next UN high commissioner for human rights, replacing Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, a sharp critic of US President Donald Trump's policies.

Bachelet, 66, served twice as president, championing socialist policies in her country. During the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s, she was detained for several weeks and tortured.

Speaking to reporters, Guterres praised Bachelet as "perfectly suited" for the job but warned she takes office "at a time of grave consequence for human rights" in the world.

"Hatred and inequality are on the rise," he said.

Respect for human rights law is on the decline, civil society is being squeezed out and press freedom is under pressure, Guterres added.

In a video posted on Twitter, Bachelet said in Spanish that she was "deeply humbled and honored" by the appointment and pledged to bring "all of my energy and convictions" to the job.

Bachelet steps into a position that has drawn much controversy under Zeid, who decided not to seek a second term after losing support from the United States, Russia and China.

Strong advocate

Zeid criticized Trump for his policies on refugees, his attacks on the media and more recently for his decision, which was later reversed, to separate migrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.

Guterres made clear he believed Bachelet could resist pressure to refrain from speaking out on human rights.

"To navigate these currents, we need a strong advocate for all human rights," said Guterres. "We need a person who can ensure the integrity of the indispensable human rights mechanisms of the United Nations."

Zeid said in a statement he was delighted with the appointment of Bachelet. "She has all the attributes – courage, perseverance, passion, and a deep commitment to human rights – to make her a successful high commissioner," he said.

Bachelet will take up her new position on September 1. She will be the seventh high commissioner for human rights since the office was created in 1993.

Chile's first woman to hold the presidency, she served in that office from 2006 to 2010, and again from 2014 to March of this year.

A trained pediatrician, Bachelet was appointed in 2010 as the first director of UN Women, the UN agency promoting gender equality worldwide.

Born in Santiago, Bachelet is the daughter of a general who opposed Pinochet's overthrow of Salvador Allende.

Afer her release from detention, she went into exile in Australia and East Germany where she continued her studies in medicine.

Bachelet returned to Chile in 1979, but was prevented from working as a doctor for political reasons. She continued studying, specializing in pediatrics and public health.

After democracy was restored in 1990, she worked for the health ministry and in 2000 was appointed health minister, followed by defense minister four years later.

As president, Bachelet offered a dramatic break from Chile's highly conservative political class. She reformed the pension system and improved health and social services, focusing on Chile's working poor.