THE enemies of Argentina s president, Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner, have accused h

er of all sorts of transgressions during her seven years in power, from cronyism
to pushing through unconstitutional laws. On January 14th a federal prosecutor
leveled what may be the gravest accusation yet: that she obstructed justice in t
he investigation of the country s deadliest terror attack.
In 1994, a van packed with explosives drove into AMIA, a Jewish community centre
in Buenos Aires, and blew up, killing 86 people (including the terrorist) and i
njuring 300. No one has been tried for the massacre, but Argentine prosecutors,
Jewish advocacy groups, the state of Israel and Interpol have all accused Iran o
f orchestrating the attack and Hizbullah, a Lebanon-based Islamist group, of exe
cuting it.
In 2013, Argentina announced that it would collaborate with Iran in a joint comm
ission to advance knowledge of the truth about the attack, as Ms Fernndez wrote on
Twitter at the time. The country s Jewish population, the world s seventh largest, w
as puzzled and angry about the accord. Now the prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, alleg
es that the controversial deal was reached in back-channel negotiations that Ms
Fernndez initiated with Iran. He claims that she offered to cover up the involvem
ent of any Iranian officials in exchange for increased trade. Argentina would ex
port grain to Iran, while Iran would sell oil to Argentina to ease its severe en
ergy deficit.
In the end, for reasons that are still unclear, the negotiations failed and the
deal fell apart. But Mr Nisman has marshalled evidence of the talks in a 300-pag
e document that he filed in a Buenos Aires court. They decided, negotiated, and a
ssured the impunity of the fugitive Iranians in the AMIA case with the aim of fa
king Iran s innocence to serve geopolitical and commercial interests, Mr Nisman dec
lared. The allegations against Ms Fernndez, her foreign minister, Hctor Timerman,
and others are based on irrefutable proof from two years of investigations and myr
iad wiretaps, Mr Nisman claims.
This is the second time he has gone after a head of state for interfering with t
he investigation of the bombing. In 2009, his sleuthing led to the indictment of
Carlos Menem, who was president at the time of the attack. He was accused of ta
mpering with evidence that implicated a Syrian businessman. The case is still in
progress. Mr Menem, if guilty, may have been protecting a friend. Ms Fernndez s mo
tives if she acted as the prosecutor alleges appear to be more political and economi
c.
One of Ms Fernndez s top aides dismissed the allegations as ridiculous . Just what eff
ect they will have on her and on the country s politics more generally is hard to
guess. Much depends on how effectively she refutes them. She cannot run in this
year s presidential elections, which take place in October.
Other prospective candidates are already seeking to exploit the controversy. Ser
gio Massa, a former ally, has called for the resignation of Mr Timerman (the son
of a prominent Jewish opponent of Argentina s military dictatorship), who has also de
nied the charges. But the main effect of the allegations may be to shake the con
fidence of an already cynical electorate in the integrity of the country s governi
ng institutions.