The landing of Juan Bautista Mahiques in the Ministry of Justice did not go unnoticed inside the Comodoro Py 2002 building, headquarters of the Federal Courts where cases involving politics are being cooked up. The reactions after the official confirmation of the departure of Mariano Cúneo Libarona ranged between euphoria, caution and warnings about the interests that are tense with the arrival of the new minister.
For several judicial actors consulted by Timewhat is expected is a new stage in the government’s relationship with Justice.
There is a coincident reading in several offices that places Cúneo Libarona as an official with good intentions but with very little room for maneuver regarding the issues that concern the Judiciary. As an example of this, they point out that he was the secretary of J.justice Sebastian Amerio the one who was most immersed in these issues and who until now was in charge of the institutional dialogue with the Supreme Court, head of the Judiciary. The arrival of Mahiques, several offices estimate, will bring better effects.
A chambermaid consulted by this medium defined the change as “positive” for the institutional exchange between both powers and, for example, to expedite competitions aimed at filling judicial vacancies that have abounded for years in that building and throughout the Judicial Branch.
In another Chamber member there was a certain climate of euphoria with the landing of Mahiques. “Great designation” was the qualification chosen when consulted by this media. In that office they immediately highlighted that the new Minister of Justice is very loved in the judicial environment and that he is an expert in all the resources of the Judicial Branch. The expectation there was that there would be a continuity of what Cúneo Libarona did but with more concrete results.
In these offices, the change of names stands out because Mahiques presents himself as an interlocutor with experience and backing, who is seen to have a – a priori – more active role than the one Cúneo Libarona had. They even see him better positioned than Amerio, who is also highlighted for his way of moving in management.
The new official brings well-oiled ties with many offices of Comodoro Py, starting with the blood relationship he maintains with his father Carlos “Coco” Mahiquesa member of the Chamber of Cassation who was recently sponsored by the government to remain in office beyond the 75 years set as a limit by the Constitution and which he is about to meet.
In this network of relationships, his close bond with the businessman also does not go unnoticed. Daniel Angelician articulator with his own weight in the political and judicial framework. Hand in hand with the “tano” was that the new official held relevant positions during the government of Mauricio Macriand then ended up as head of the Buenos Aires prosecutors thanks to the former head of Government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.
While in some offices they were happy with the arrival of the new minister, in others they preferred not to give an opinion. But one of those consulted by Time expressed his doubts regarding the new official, whose continuity was strictly linked to the success of the government in economic matters.
Going deeper, he maintained that Mahiques will not be shaken by the questions that may come from the opposition, even though they are many and important. He does not see, for example, that the fact that the complaint made by the former Cassation chambermaid is revived Ana Maria Figueroa due to supposed pressures it has a minimal effect. Much less the circumstance that he was one of the members of the delegation of judicial officials, politicians and businessmen from the Clarín Group who traveled in 2022 to Lago Escondido, the stay of tycoon Joe Lewis. Or that it could have some kind of influence on the $Libra or Andis causes, which are of concern in the Casa Rosada.
Rather, this theory suggests that the figure of Mahiques may arouse strong tensions in the future since there are a series of interests that will conflict once he sits in the office of the Ministry of Justice. The first of the doubts revolves around the relationship that he will have with the lawyer Santiago Viola, a pure Karinist who everything indicates that he will keep the chair that Amerio occupied in the Ministry of Justice.
Secondly, the new minister’s last name appears linked to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), whose leaders are in the crosshairs of the government and the Clarín and La Nación groups. The new minister has just been anointed as vice-rector of the AFA University, but quickly gave up. Carlos, his father, has just been strongly highlighted in these media for his supposed birthday celebration at the famous Pilar villa that is attributed to the entity’s treasurer, Pablo Toviggino.
After that statement, Mahiques Sr. renounced the subrogation he exercised in Chamber I of Cassation, which has yet to rule on the case for Pilar’s mansion, which has intense media coverage.
According to this reading, the new Minister of Justice is in the middle of a strong dispute between internal sectors of the government, where there is a clear influence of media power. Its success, from that point of view, will depend on how management faces this push.
