The “notebooks” scandal has turned Argentine politics on its head. Clearly the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s history, the story broke when the daily La Nación published copies of eight notebooks filled with notes from a government driver. From 2005 to 2015, the driver, Oscar Centeno, had taken meticulous notes of his boss’s daily activities, including trips to pick up bags full of cash from companies that were awarded government contracts. According to a witness, at least $60 million in cash was delivered to one of the Kirchners’ apartments over a three year period.
The investigation comes at a bad time for the country’s economy. Argentina is currently going through a currency crisis caused by the decline in export earnings, declining confidence in the economy and rising global interest rates. The escalating crisis prompted an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund. Investors now worry that the scandal will slow the country’s recovery.
This is bad news for President Mauricio Macri, who is seeking re-election next year. His popularity has already decreased with the implementation of austerity measures, and could continue to spiral downward if the economy doesn’t get rebound. Experts add that Fernández de Kirchner’s imprisonment wouldn’t help Macri during the elections because she would “play the victim” and claim political persecution. According to Andrés Oppenheimer, “the best case scenario for Argentina would be for the former president not to be sentenced until after the October 2019 elections.”
