Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced the Corruption in Argentina Stymied by Enforcing Sanctions Act of 2023, or CASES Act. This bill requires President Joe Biden to investigate five Argentine officials for corruption, including Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
If the investigation finds that they meet the criteria to be sanctioned for corruption, the bill mandates the imposition of such sanctions. The Argentinian officials are: Fernández de Kirchner, her son Máximo Kirchner, Vice Minister of Justice Juan Martín Mena, Senator Oscar Isidro Jose Parrilli, and Lead Prosecutor of the Argentine Treasury Carlos Alberto Zannini.
“Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is a deeply corrupt politician who has undermined Argentina’s rule of law and its political institutions. The evidence against her is public, credible, and backed up by Argentina’s courts," said Sen. Cruz.
The bill introduced by the Republican Senator is based on the conviction made by an Argentine federal court in 2022 against Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for having overseen, with the help of her children and associates, an elaborate kickback and bribery scheme that defrauded Argentines of billions of pesos.
Sen. Cruz said: "She (Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) and her associates have undermined American security interests in the region by placing Argentina’s institutions at the service of Iran’s global terrorism campaign. They continue to do so. The United States Congress has passed into law authorities for the President to sanction individuals like Fernández de Kirchner and her associates. My CASES Act mandates that President Biden uses them for what they were meant for – protecting American interests abroad from corrupt politicians seeking to undermine them.”
This bill is introduced on the same day that President Biden will host President Alberto Fernández of Argentina for a bilateral meeting at the White House to discuss "climate change, technology, inclusion, democracy and human rights."