An Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the head of the acclaimed human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, which is caught up in a politically messy corruption case.
Hebe de Bonafini, 87, is one of the founding members of the prominent group, which has led the fight for justice for the thousands of people abducted, tortured and killed by Argentina's military regime (1976-1983).
The group had more recently branched out to launch a $53-million program to build housing, schools and health centers in low-income neighborhoods -- and that is where Bonafini's legal troubles started.
Much of the money -- which came largely from the government -- went missing, triggering a scandal that brought an abrupt end to the program in 2011.
Bonafini and her fellow activists are not accused in the case. Prosecutors say they were taken advantage of by their former attorney.
But Bonafini, whose two sons were "disappeared" by the military regime, has ignored two summonses to testify.
Police were dispatched Thursday to escort her to court from her organization's headquarters. But she apparently eluded them and boarded a mini-van bound for the Plaza de Mayo.
The iconic square in front of the presidential palace is the site where the Mothers and their sister group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, have marched in protest every Thursday since 1977.
"If they have to arrest me, then let them do it," Bonafini defiantly told supporters in the square.
Bonafini was close to former president Cristina Kirchner, and her organization received generous government funding during her administration and that of her late husband, Nestor, from 2003 to 2015.
She is a fierce critic of Kirchner's successor, business-friendly conservative Mauricio Macri, who has steadily undone the leftist policies of the previous 12 years.
Bonafini has called him a "son of a bitch" and a "dictator."
An Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the head of the acclaimed human rights group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, which is caught up in a politically messy corruption case.
Hebe de Bonafini, 87, is one of the founding members of the prominent group, which has led the fight for justice for the thousands of people abducted, tortured and killed by Argentina’s military regime (1976-1983).
The group had more recently branched out to launch a $53-million program to build housing, schools and health centers in low-income neighborhoods — and that is where Bonafini’s legal troubles started.
Much of the money — which came largely from the government — went missing, triggering a scandal that brought an abrupt end to the program in 2011.
Bonafini and her fellow activists are not accused in the case. Prosecutors say they were taken advantage of by their former attorney.
But Bonafini, whose two sons were “disappeared” by the military regime, has ignored two summonses to testify.
Police were dispatched Thursday to escort her to court from her organization’s headquarters. But she apparently eluded them and boarded a mini-van bound for the Plaza de Mayo.
The iconic square in front of the presidential palace is the site where the Mothers and their sister group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, have marched in protest every Thursday since 1977.
“If they have to arrest me, then let them do it,” Bonafini defiantly told supporters in the square.
Bonafini was close to former president Cristina Kirchner, and her organization received generous government funding during her administration and that of her late husband, Nestor, from 2003 to 2015.
She is a fierce critic of Kirchner’s successor, business-friendly conservative Mauricio Macri, who has steadily undone the leftist policies of the previous 12 years.
Bonafini has called him a “son of a bitch” and a “dictator.”
