Sen. Ted Cruz introduces bill to sanction Argentine officials for aiding Iranian terrorist campaign

Republican Senator Ted Cruz introduced this Wednesday the “Corruption in Argentina Stymied by Enforcing Sanctions Act” Law of 2023, or “CASES” Law, which seeks to investigate five high-ranking Argentine officials for corruption, including the current vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

The bill would empower the President of the United States to be sanction Argentine officials for corruption, according to a press release.

The Argentine officials are: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, her son Máximo Kirchner, Deputy Justice Minister Juan Martín Mena, Senator Oscar Isidro José Parrilli and Carlos Alberto Zannini, Argentine Treasury Attorney.

Cruz said the initiative sprung from a recent prison sentence handed down by an Argentine federal court in 2022 against Fernández de Kirchner for allegedly being involved in a bribery and kickback scheme that defrauded Argentines billions of pesos.

He argued that Fernández and her associates have put Argentine institutions at the service of Iran's global terrorist campaign, which has undermined U.S. security interests in the region.

The CASES Act will empower President Biden to  protect U.S. interests abroad from corrupt politicians who seek to undermine them, according to the statement.

The presentation of the CASES Law coincides with President Biden's meeting with his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernández at the White House to discuss issues such as climate change, technology, inclusion, democracy and human rights.

The law still needs to be approved by Congress and signed into law by Biden.  

"Cristina Fernández and her inner circle are some of the most prolific embezzlers of public funds in Latin America, said Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida. " It is time for the United States to take action against their unchecked abuse of power, which has resulted in the theft and loss of billions of dollars belonging to the Argentine people."

Last year, Cruz led a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he called on the State Department to impose corruption sanctions on Fernández de Kirchner and members of her immediate family.