Argentina president Mauricio Macri called for an "end to mafia behavior" during a meeting with powerful business leaders on Thursday, amongst whom included several whose companies are implicated in the country's high-profile, multimillion-dollar "notebook" corruption scandal. "I'm not going to mortgage my government, nor the future of Argentines to defend anyone who operates outside of the law," said Macri during a meeting of the Argentine Business Association (AEA) in Buenos Aires, in a clear dig at predecessor Cristina Kirchner.
"If any of you faces an improper request, I'm a president you can turn to." The "notebook" corruption scandal has implicated not just titans of the Argentine business world but also politicians from the governments of the late Nestor and his wife Cristina Kirchner, who between them served for three terms from 2003 to 2015 before the right-wing Macri came to power.
Last week, Amado Boudou, a former vice-president under Cristina Kirchner, was sentenced to almost six years in prison after he was found guilty of "passive bribery" and conduct "incompatible" with his duties as a public servant.