US Ambassador Sparks Scandal in Argentina: Promises Jail for Cristina and Re-election for Milei

A political scandal erupted here following statements by the US-designated ambassador to Argentina, Peter Lamelas, who told his country’s Congress that he will work to help President Javier Milei win the upcoming legislative elections and ensure that former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner “receives the justice she deserves,” meaning sending her to jail.

Lamelas asserted that “the country’s problem” is that “there are 23 provinces, and each of these has its own separate government, which can negotiate with external forces, with the Chinese, or with others, to come and carry out projects in that particular province. And that, in addition, gives rise to corruption by the Chinese,” highlighting the need to put an end to Peronism and the left, among other proposed actions.

He argued that Fernández de Kirchner was found guilty of “fraud,” adding another issue, such as the case of the bloody attack against the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), which occurred on July 18, 1994. He suggested that the former president is responsible for the death of the prosecutor in charge of the case, Alberto Nisman, who committed suicide in January 2015. He also stressed the need to hold a trial in absentia against the Iranian officials accused without any evidence of this attack, which left 85 dead and hundreds injured.

He maintained that one of his functions will be to counter the presence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), ensuring that investments and economic exchanges primarily benefit American companies, “and limit alliances with those actors who do not share Western principles.”

He referred to countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, and other Latin American countries, considering them harmful to Argentina. He highlighted Argentina’s importance to “regional, economic, and political stability” and identified the United States and Israel “as its two main geopolitical references.”

“I will work to strengthen regional security, police cooperation, and intelligence sharing to combat drug trafficking and transnational crimes… all of these efforts I have outlined, and I have a plan that I will gladly share with you. They will improve relations between the United States and Argentina and gradually expel China,” he promised.