Argentina’s Fernández extended twice temporary authorization for ammunition sent to Bolivia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the government of Alberto Fernández, the temporary authorization for the 70,000 pieces of ammunition that were sent to Bolivia by the government of Mauricio Macri was extended twice, writes La Nación in its latest report.

The information can be derived from the documentation submitted by the National Agency for Controlled Materials (ANMAC) as part of the current government’s lawsuit against Macri and part of his cabinet.

Read also: Lost track over Argentina’s alleged illicit ammunition deliveries to Bolivia? Let us help you

The extensions of the permits occurred in January and May 2020, with the same argument originally given by denounced ex-President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019): to protect the Argentine embassy in the neighboring country.

At that time, Bolivia was still governed by interim president Jeanine Áñez.

President Alberto Fernández, on July 12, officially denounced opposing ex-president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) and almost a dozen officials of the opposing Cambiemos administration for sending “repressive material” to Bolivia in November 2019.

The event occurred when Bolivian president Evo Morales, who had been in power since 2019, was forced to resign amid violent protests in what the Argentine agency describes as a “coup d’état.”

The current administration accuses Macri and his officials of illegally sending arms and ammunition to Bolivia, placing the material “at the disposal of the dictatorship which recently took power in the neighboring country, headed by Jeanine Áñez.”

The judicial charges state that the quantities and destinations declared at different control instances, including customs, were tampered with to collaborate with the new regime in the neighboring country.

Fernández reportedly considered the suspicion “very serious” and said the complaint was necessary, according to the local press.

On July 17, Argentine prosecutor Claudio Navas was tasked to initiate an investigation against former President Mauricio Macri and other members of his government for allegedly smuggling weapons (ammunition) to Bolivia to suppress social protests in that country in 2019 by taking up a complaint filed by the government of his successor, Alberto Fernandez.

In addition to Macri, Navas charged the former Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, and the Minister of Defense, Oscar Aguad, and the former Argentine ambassador to Bolivia, Normando Alvarez García, and three officials of the Argentine Gendarmerie.