Conspiracy Theorists

The ugly duckling of political seasons is, to my mind, conspiracy season, when politicians point and quiver, red-faced, and claim some mano negra is out to drag them down. The recent bar brawl at Perón's reburial didn't seem to offer the raw ingredients for whipping up a conspiracy, but how wrong I was. Just a few days later, President Kirchner's minister of interior and guard dog Anibal Fernández was explaining to all who would listen that the fight at San Vicente was actually a grand scheme to embarrass Kirchner (who decided not to attend because of said brawl). I'm not entirely sure how it embarrassed Kirchner, but Fernández's statements had all the dark vaguenesses of a well practiced conspiracy spinner. He said, "I'm sure that they are more than sufficient elements" to prove a plot; that "When the moment arrives, we'll present the proof." That last one is my favorite of the old conspiracy saws, that head-nod to the bag of evidence in the back room.

The folks at La Nación, no great fans of Mr. K, take the opportunity to elaborate all the conspiracies Pres. Pingüino and his people have claimed, laying the average at one conpiracy per annum. The weary response from the judge in the San Vicente case, César Melazo (apparently not a big K supporter either) is classic: "The theme of plots is something I've been hearing for two years: they're the same theories that are never brought to light, not with proof; they seem to be something scary, but no one ever brings forth evidence so we can investigate them."