ARGENTINA: ARMY CHIEF BENDINI, A KIRCHNER ALLY,

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001314

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2028
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM MARR KCOR SNAR PHUM AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: ARMY CHIEF BENDINI, A KIRCHNER ALLY,
RESIGNS ON RESURGENT CHARGE OF CORRUPTION; POZZI SELECTED
AS NEW CHIEF

Classified By: Charge de Affaires a.i. Tom Kelly. Reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (C) Summary: Argentina's Cabinet Chief Sergio Massa
announced late on September 18 that General Bendini, Army
Chief of Staff for the past five years, had resigned. The
resignation and its acceptance by the President followed by
only hours the decision of a Federal Appeals Court in
Comodoro Rivadavia to proceed with charges against Bendini
for the improper diversion of funds under his 2002 command of
the Eleventh Brigade in Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz (Nestor
Kirchner's home town). Bendini was promoted over more senior
generals by then President Nestor Kirchner in 2003 and had
enjoyed the backing of the Kirchners despite Defense Minister
Garre's apparent lack of confidence in him. President
Fernandez de Kirchner moved quickly this time once the
indictment emerged. Major General Luis Alberto Pozzi,
previously the Vice Chief for the Army, was announced
September 19 as the new Army Chief of Staff. End Summary.


2. (U) General Roberto Bendini offered his resignation in
writing to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on
September 18 following an announcement by the Federal Chamber
of Comodora Rivadavia over-ruling Investigative Judge Gerardo
Caamano's 2007 decision that the charges lacked enough merit
to proceed. Bendini was indicted on charges of "peculado," a
charge of illegally diverting government monies for personal
use. Bendini is said to have operated a "parallel" bank
account in which he managed up to 500,000 pesos (over USD
170,000) of official money obligated for the Mechanized
Brigade under his command in 2002-2003. The account at a
commercial bank was utilized without appropriate oversight
and accountability mechanisms, leading the judges
constituting the Federal Chamber (equivalent to a three-judge
appeals panel/court) to conclude that at a minimum Bendini
likely used the funds for purposes for which they were not
authorized. "Even when one cannot establish personal
enrichment (by Bendini)," said the judges, the law was clear
that it was a crime to utilize monies in ways not clearly
authorized by the government. Bendini is charged but not
detained; the charges carry a maximum sentence of ten years
in prison. Minister of Defense Nilda Garre's relations with
Bendini have long been strained and distant. She was in
Chile at the time of Bendini's firing but was undoubtedly
supportive of the president's decision to jettison him.
President Kirchner's Chief of Staff Sergio Massa made the
announcement in a brief evening press conference.

A Long Deferred Day in Court
--------------


3. (SBU) Bendini was appointed in 2003 by recently
inaugurated President Nestor Kirchner. Kirchner had known
the General well from Santa Cruz Province, where Kirchner was
governor before winning the Presidency. Bendini had also
positioned himself as a follower of the left wing of the
Peronist movement. His appointment over a number of more
senior generals forced resignations and created tensions
within the military leadership, but Nestor Kirchner's strong
and public backing of Bendini left him relatively untouchable
during Kirchner's presidency. Despite the relatively
successful efforts of Minister of Defense Nilda Garre to
exert her authority over the armed forces following her 2006
appointment, she was unable to move against Bendini despite
her own apparent low regard for and suspicions of the
general. The investigation against Bendini over the
misdirection of funds in 2002 began in April 2003, and in
2006 Investigative Judge Caamano attempted to shift the
charges to a military court without success. Caamano's 2007
decision that the charges were without merit stalled the
investigation for a year before the Appeals Court overruled
him on September 18th.

Another Round of Dismissals
--------------


4. (SBU) Bendini's resignation followed Garre's dismissal the
previous day of another thirteen senior officers, including
two senior generals, on charges of corruption in cases
unrelated to Bendini's, her second mass firing in as many
months.

Opposition Pounces
--------------


5. (C) Opposition Congressman universally supported Bendini's
dismissal but charged it came too late - or that he should
never have been appointed. Center-right "Pro" party leader


in the Chamber of Deputies, Federico Pinedo, noted that the
Bendini case demonstrated the corrosive influence of
cronyism, resulting in a system "that makes relationships
with Nestor Kirchner more important than institutions." A
media commentator, Fernando Gonzales in Clarin, suggested
that President Fernandez de Kirchner's swift reaction in
(presumably) firing Bendini was a result of the Kirchner's
eroded political power, something that had left the President
with no margin for error. Well-known political analyst
Rosendo Fraga noted Bendini's direct relationship with Nestor
Kirchner crony and Planning Minister Julio de Vido,
implicitly linking him to the darker side of the Kirchners'
finances.

Pozzi Steps Up
--------------


6. (SBU) The Government on September 19 announced that Army
Vice Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Luis Alberto Pozzi
will replace Bendini.


7. (SBU) Bio Notes: A graduate of the Argentine National
Military Academy in 1968, General Pozzi is a Signal Corps
officer with an extensive technical background in
communications systems and information technology. He served
in a variety of Signal Corps-related assignments at the
tactical, operational and strategic levels. Pozzi is a
graduate of the Argentine Military Technical School with a
special concentration in electronics, and he obtained a
graduate-level degree in Aerospace Technology (with a
specialty in satellites) from the National Technology
University. He also served as a professor of communications
systems a the Military Technical School. Pozzi is married to
Liliana Comejo and has three children.

Comment: Turmoil and Reform
--------------


8. (C) Bendini's dismissal may be welcome news to senior army
officers given his already extended stay on the job. The
broader trend of firings among top generals on grounds of
corruption or irregularities, however, has created some
turmoil as positions shift and officers wonder who might be
next. Without arriving at conclusions about the strength of
the charges against the officers advanced in August and
September, however, it does appear that Garre is taking
seriously her charge to clean up and regularize military
finance, all to the good.
KELLY