Argentina's Spygate: "If I could have a Gestapo to terminate all labor unions, I would"
Argentine politics was rocked this week by video footage in which former Buenos Aires Province Labor Minister Marcelo Villegas expressed his desire for a "Gestapo with which to terminate all labor unions."
Villegas, 58, who served in former Governor María Eugenia Vidal's 2015-19 tenure, was filmed in a June 15, 2017, meeting with provincial as well as Federal Intelligence (AFI) officials.
Vidal, 48, remains a top figure in former President Mauricio Macri's hard-right PRO party - and has presidential ambitions for 2023.
The meeting, held in downtown Buenos Aires, was attended by 9 right-wing officials and 4 lobbyists: Villegas; then-Provincial Infrastructure Minister Roberto Gigante; then-Provincial Justice Undersecretary Adrián Grassi; La Plata (provincial capital) Mayor Julio Garro; Provincial Senator Juan Pablo Allan; four construction lobbyists - and two top Macri-era AFI officials.
Lawfare
The "need to build up cases" against the country's often restive labor unions was stressed by Villegas to the lobbyists present - reflecting Macri's alleged use of lawfare against opponents, as well as his call that year to have labor leaders and leftists "ejected in a rocket to the moon."
The AFI officials present included then-Counterintelligence head Diego Dalmau Pereyra and Darío Biorci - Chief of Staff (and brother-in-law) of disgraced former AFI Deputy Director Silvia Majdalani.
Dalmau Pereyra and Majdalani - and over 40 others, including Macri - have been indicted for their roles in the far-reaching Spygate scandal involving warrantless surveillance on hundreds of critics and allies alike during Macri's 2015-19 term.
Federal Prosecutor Ana Russo of La Plata filed a criminal complaint today against Villegas for the alleged persecution of local UOCRA (construction) unionist Juan Pablo "Pata" Medina, who was jailed within weeks of the meeting.
Villegas' diatribe was condemned by Argentina's Jewish community (Latin America's largest), and drew comparisons to the country's fascist dictatorship in 1976-83 - when of the 8,960 found to have "disappeared" in a 1984 report, 30% were union members.
At: https://www-infobae-com.translate.goog/politica/2021/12/27/marcelo-villegas-el-ex-ministro-bonaerense-que-pretendio-crear-una-gestapo-para-armar-causas-judiciales/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US
Former right-wing Buenos Aires Province Governor María Eugenia Vidal and then-Labor Minister Marcelo Villegas.
Footage emerged on Monday showing Villegas, in a 2017 meeting with lobbyists and top intelligence officials, calling for a "Gestapo with which to terminate all labor unions."
Villegas' words reflect an alleged policy of warrantless surveillance and outright lawfare against labor leaders and leftists during former President Mauricio Macri's 2015-19 term.
