Argentina’s Milei Calls Out Spain’s First Lady Over Corruption

Spain has withdrawn its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentina’s President Javier Milei slammed Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his wife’s alleged corruption during a anti-socialism rally in Madrid.

Javier Milei a staunch libertarian referred to Sanchez’s wife Begona Gomez as “corrupt” during a rally in Madrid organized by the far-right Vox party and attended by several of its overseas friends.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares stated that he expects Milei to apologize.

Other ministers also attacked Milei’s statement, in which he referred to socialism as “cursed and carcinogenic”. Sanchez leads Spain’s Socialist Party.
“With his behaviour, Milei has brought the relationship between Spain and Argentina to its most serious state in recent history,” Albares said in a video statement.

Milei’s visit breached diplomatic convention by refusing to meet with Spain’s King Felipe and Sanchez, instead promoting his book at a party gathering alongside Vox leader Santiago Abascal.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, stated in a post on social messaging app X that “attacks against family members of political leaders have no place in our culture”.

Spain’s largest opposition party, the conservative People’s Party (PP), declined to support Madrid’s position, claiming that Sanchez should have provided explanations concerning the alleged corruption issue weeks ago.

“His silence generates internal doubts, but also distrust abroad,” a PP source said, adding that the party’s mission was to oppose the Spanish government, not Milei.

In April, a local court said that it was investigating allegations of influence peddling and commercial corruption against Sanchez’s wife, which were raised in a private complaint by Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, an anti-corruption activist group.

However, Madrid’s prosecuting authorities later announced that it was asking to have the case dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

Sanchez decided to stay in office after five days of deliberating his future after the investigation into his wife was publicized.

Spain court investigating PM’s wife for graft: Image Reuters

Wife of Span’s PM investigated for corruption

In April, a Spanish judge has initiated a preliminary investigation against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife over corruption allegations, raising political tensions in Madrid to unprecedented heights.

The judge’s surprising decision against Begoña Gómez provoked outrage in Sánchez’s Socialist-led administration, which denounced the claims as “false” and blamed them on rightwing rivals.

The judge, Juan Carlos Peinado, initiated judicial proceedings after receiving a complaint from a labor union regarding influence peddling. It claimed that Gómez obtained favors from private companies that secured government contracts and received subsidies.

Spain’s justice minister, Félix Bolaños, criticized the case as “one more false allegation”.

On Wednesday, Sánchez addressed parliament, “On a day like today, and despite the news I have heard, despite everything, I still believe in justice in my country.”

The union that submitted the complaint was Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), which has a history of filing anti-corruption lawsuits and whose leader has far-right connections. Its complaint was based on a series of stories published by news outlets, including El Confidencial.

Before deciding whether or not to proceed with the case, the judge must call witnesses and analyze the evidence.

Manos Limpias claims that Gómez obtained favors from executives at Air Europa and its parent company, Globalia, while serving as the director of an Africa research center at IE University in Madrid for over four years, until 2022.

Manos Limpias linked her actions to the airline’s €475 million bailout in late 2020, as it tried to survive the coronavirus outbreak.

Gómez has remained silent on the claims in recent weeks and was not available for comment on Wednesday. Globalia has declined to respond.

IE University reported receiving four airline tickets from Globalia as part of an event sponsorship contract in 2020, but stated that it had never received any money from Globalia or its Africa center.

The conservative opposition demanded that Sánchez deliver quick “explanations” to parliamentarians regarding the case.

According to Esther Muñoz, deputy secretary of the opposition People’s Party, the silence of the government’s head is highlighting his wife, not the People’s Party.

Other ministers in Sanchez’s government responded to the opposition. Spain’s deputy prime minister, María Jesús Montero, stated, “we are facing the worst PP in history” and accused it of aligning with “practices and discourses of the extreme right”.

In recent weeks, Sánchez’s government has concentrated on approaching regional and EU elections, passing only a few pieces of legislation.

The PP has postponed the approval of a controversial plan that would provide amnesty to Catalan separatists involved in a 2017 secession push. Sánchez’s minority coalition government is reliant on the votes of Catalan legislators, who will not support any new legislation until the amnesty bill passes.

A Catalan regional election on May 12 will put Sánchez’s standing to the test following the amnesty pact. The Catalan branch of Sánchez’s Socialist Party is leading polls, followed by the extreme separatists Junts for Catalunya.

Source: Financial Times, Reuters

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