page_title: The Route of the K-Money
section_title: Reactions
hierarchical_section_title: The Route of the K-Money / Reactions
caption_attribution_description: English: Demonstration in support of José María Campagnoli
context_page_description: The Route of the K-Money was a 2013 political scandal in Argentina. It began with reports on the Periodismo para todos television program on the results of its investigation, led by journalist Jorge Lanata. Embezzlement and an associated money trail involved Argentine presidents Néstor Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and their employee, businessman Lázaro Báez. The investigation concluded that Báez diverted money intended for public infrastructure to tax havens. The scandal led to an official investigation. To date no judicial investigation ever found any proof of wrongdoing by Néstor or Cristina Kirchner. However, in April 2016 Lázaro Baez was awaiting trial on corruption charges in an Argentinian federal prison.
context_section_description: Initially, the government had no comment about the controversy. Only deputy Carlos Kunkel said that although he did not know Lázaro Báez, if he committed a crime he had to go to prison; however, he thought there was insufficient evidence. Governor of Santa Cruz province Daniel Peralta denied any connection to Báez, saying that public works in the province were financed by the national government since 2008 through Vialidad Nacional. Once a Kirchner supporter, Peralta had turned to Federal Peronism. He said that the national government had invested $770 million in public works from 2007 to 2012, and that control of such finances was the purview of the SIGEN. Minister Julio de Vido considered the scandal an attempt to halt construction of the dams Néstor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic Dams. Báez, in a news conference where he took no questions, considered it an attempt to defame Néstor Kirchner; he questioned Fariña and Elaskar's reliability and the authenticity of the documents shown on the program.
  Since Leonardo Fariña was the husband of television personality Karina Jelinek, the government tried to treat the program's revelations as a dispute between TV presenters on its controlled TV channels to discredit it. It hoped focusing Fariña would deflect attention from Kirchner. This attempt failed, and the extended coverage increased awareness of the controversy among the apolitical population. Details of the money's being weighed (instead of counted) and politicians' home vaults increased lay understanding of the corruption controversy's scope.
  Public interest in the controversy resembled that in a telenovela; a large portion of the population awaited each new airing of Periodismo para todos, and its revelations were discussed during the week. A survey concerning the controversy found that 80% of the respondents followed it, 70% thought the accusations were true and 65% thought it affected the president's public image. Two-thirds of the respondents agreed that the level of corruption during the Kirchner presidencies was similar (or higher) than that during the presidency of Carlos Menem. Public reception of the controversy may have been influenced by the ongoing Argentine economic crisis, the suspicion of presidential involvement and Lanata's persuasiveness.
  National deputy Andrés Larroque considered the scandal a veiled coup attempt by the media. Writer Ricardo Forster minimized the significance of political corruption, considering interest in it by the media a threat to democracy. Presidential secretary Oscar Parrilli accused media groups of attempting to generate terrorism against the Kirchner presidencies. Presidential undersecretary Gustavo López said that the scandal was caused by corporate group warfare against the government. Alleged threats to democracy and allegations of coup attempts are a common element of  Kirchnerite criticism of political opposition since the 2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector.
  The government tried to shrink the audience for Periodismo para todos by rescheduling the most-important soccer match of the week against it. The tactic was unsuccessful; Lanata received 24.7 rating points, compared with 16 for the Boca-Newell's Old Boys match. Journalist Jorge Fernández Díaz said that soccer matches had not been scheduled so late the previous year, when Periodismo para todos had an average of 15 ratings points instead of 25. The June 16 match between River Plate and Lanús violated an Argentine Football Association rule requiring the last two matches of teams with chances to win a tournament to be played concurrently.
  Although Lázaro Báez intended to run for governor of Santa Cruz province in 2015, as of April 2013 he engaged in no political activity in the Justicialist Party or the Front for Victory. The "Route of the K-Money" episode of Periodismo para todos won a silver medal for Best Investigative Report in the 2014 New York Festivals.
caption: Demonstration in support of José María Campagnoli.
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