Argentine Judge Throws Out Criminal Charges Against President

A federal judge on Thursday threw out a motion to charge President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for allegedly trying to cover up Iran's suspected involvement in a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center.



Daniel Rafecas took the move two weeks after federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita filed charges against the president, her foreign minister, Hector Timerman, and other key supporters.



Pollicita said that the accused had sought to whitewash Iran's alleged masterminding of the bombing that killed 85 people in order to build trade ties with the Republic. He assumed the case from Alberto Nisman who was found dead in January four days after making the same charges.



In a 63-page document, Rafecas said the president and most of the others didn't commit a crime.



"There is not even one element of proof," the judge said in the document.



The only exception was made for Ramon Bogado, who Nisman accused of being a spy working closely on the cover-up. Bogado will be investigated for posing as an Intelligence Secretariat agent to do illegal business related to customs, according to Rafaecas' document.



Pollicita can appeal the judge's decision.



Rafaecas' move is widely seen as affording the government breathing room after it has come under pressure for a string of corruption allegations, with the vice president facing charges.



The president's center-left party, Front for Victory, is expected to struggle to hold onto power in the Oct. 25 presidential election, after 12 years in office, as the electorate shifts favor to more moderate candidates, opinion polls show.



In a bid to embolden her administration ahead of the election, the president on Thursday fired her chief of Cabinet, Jorge Capitanich.



In his place, Fernandez de Kirchner named her general secretary, Anibal Fernandez, one of her closest confidants.



Fernandez, in turn, will be replaced by Eduardo de Pedro, a national congressman and a leader of La Campora, a militant youth organization run by the president's son Maximo. La Campora has gained weight in the government since 2011, with one of its members, Axel Kicillof, becoming economy minister.



La Campora also has gained dozens of lower positions with influence, including running state companies such as the national airline. But critics have lashed out at the movement, saying its members are focused on profiting from power, not to making the social changes for helping the poor that they stand behind.



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