REQUESTED
Yesterday, 3/18/2024, I received a Document Letter in which a naval union invited me to rectify my recent statement made on the portal www. AgendaMalvinas.com.ar , where I expressed my opinion contrary to the fraudulent and unnecessary tender for the importation of ships for the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA), which steals the work of thousands of Argentine naval workers. In it I made a tangential mention of the behavior of some union leaders that I described as corrupt. I understand that the phrase to which the Document Letter alludes and that could have called into question the honor of some naval unionist is that of the fifth paragraph of the Agenda Malvinas publication of March 10 at 1:56 p.m., titled “ They ask Milei to stop the international tender for boats for the Prefecture” ( https://agendamalvinas.com.ar/noticia/piden-a-milei-que-frene-la-licitacion-internacional-de-barcos-para-la-prefectura ) .
The publication of this note helped (just hours before the illegal purchase was made) the government to suspend a new colossal naval fraud (400 million dollars) importing unnecessary ships that by law should be built in the country.
In this regard, I need to clarify, rectify and publicly apologize if it has been misinterpreted that I accuse some naval unionist of receiving bribes in exchange for his opinion in favor of the importation of ships. No. I have not seen nor do I have evidence of such bribes. Therefore I publicly apologize to anyone who may have understood such a thing.
In my note I intended to refer to the broader concept of corruption that, for example, historian Keith Schoppa explains by saying that bribery is not the only tool of corruption , which also includes "embezzlement, nepotism, extortion, cronyism, kickbacks, deception, waste of public money, stock manipulation and fraud." Or when the specialist Hernández Gómez indicates that corruption is defined as “any violation or deviant act, of any nature, with economic purposes or not, caused by the action or omission of institutional duties, of those who should seek to achieve the purposes. of the public administration and that instead prevents, delays or hinders them.”
And it is in this broad sense that I ratify my opinion about the corrupt network that exists around Argentine state naval purchases that already form a matrix of systemic corruption, as demonstrated by the Annexes presented here.They show that Argentina paid double the market price (704 million dollars) in the latest state naval purchases from PNA and ARA, and triple the value paid by Uruguay for the same type of ships.