President Javier Milei has generated a new political stir by appointing Ariel Lijo as judge of the Supreme Court. The commission designation is an exceptional procedure with which the President avoids the approval of the Senate to appoint judges. In this case, Ariel Lijo and Gabriel Mancilla were appointed. It is a new gesture of Milei’s authoritarianism. Who is Ariel Lijo, and why his appointment was already causing noise?
With almost two decades as a federal judge in Comodoro Py, Ariel Lijo has accumulated a record that positions him as one of the most influential and questioned magistrates of the Argentine judicial field. His name has been linked to cases of high political and economic relevance, such as the Ciccone cause, the Argentine mail scandal and the investigation for the blasting of the AMIA. Its management of these and other causes has been criticized.
A report by the Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ) and the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP) revealed that Lijo maintains half of its 89 causes of unresolved corruption for more than a decade, and He has only managed to bring 15% of them to oral trial. This performance places it as the judge with the worst case resolution index in Comodoro Py, with 44%. With cases that have a 25 -year -old procedure, such as the one that has Edmundo Ruckauf, cousin of former governor Carlos Ruckauf and former head of the social work for the staff of the Ministry of Economy, processed by unfaithful administration.
The designation by decree of the judges of the Supreme Court, is another sample of the authoritarianism of the Milei government that wants to continue ruling by decree and intends to have an addicted court that guarantees impunity.
– Nicolas del Caño (@nicolasdelcano) February 25, 2025
Like the members of Comodoro Py, Lijo uses judicial causes at the service of political operations. With the modus operandi to leave them “sleep” for a long time and put them in motion according to political interest.
Together with his brother Alfredo – a recognized operator on the Judiciary – is affection for all types of businesses. The growth of his assets was investigated in 2018, after a complaint by Elisa Carrió. Both brothers were dismissed by another Judge of Comodoro Py: Julián Ercolini, another eternal protagonist of causes that are used politically.
Among those businesses include properties and horses, generating suspicion of the origin of their fortune. The complaints, added to their links with figures of political and economic power reinforce this image of collusion with privilege sectors. This appointment exposes Milei’s contradictions regarding his electoral discourse, which promised a break with the “caste.”
The designation happens at a time of government crisis after the cryptocurrency scandal $ Libra. A few months ago, from the block of Peronism in the Senate they had confirmed that a negotiation was being given to designate this controversial judge.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
