Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Did Argentina Spy Chief Tied to Alberto Nisman Death Flee to U.S.?

A fugitive former spy chief accused by the Argentine government of involvement in the murky death of a federal prosecutor in January flew from Brazil to the United States a month later, Argentina’s security ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said Interpol in Brazil provided the information on Antonio Stiuso, one-time operations chief of the now disbanded Intelligence Secretariat, after a “blue notice” seeking details on Stiuso’s location was issued last month.

Argentina suspects Stiuso is seeking refuge in the United States and has criticized Washington for failing to answer repeated enquiries about the spy master’s whereabouts.

“A similar report is required from Interpol in Washington,” the Security Ministry said in a statement.

Stiuso flew from Porto Alegre to Miami on Feb. 19 using an Italian passport, Argentina said, citing the report. Interpol declined to comment.

Relations between Argentina have the United States have soured under President Cristina Fernandez, who frequently rails against imperialist powers and gluttonous financial markets in the West.

Analysts say the latest rise in diplomatic tensions is a headache for the ruling party’s presidential candidate, Daniel Scioli, who is said by advisors to favor improving Argentina’s foreign relations. Argentina votes on Oct. 25

State prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found with a single bullet to the head days after accusing Fernandez of trying to cover up Iran’s alleged role in the 1994 truck-bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

Fernandez and her ministers say Stiuso tricked Nisman into fabricating baseless allegations to destabilize the government and then needed him dead, and have previously questioned whether the spy chief was working for the United States.

The attack on the AMIA center killed 85 people, the deadliest in Argentine history. Iran has repeatedly denied any link to the bombing and an Argentine judge tossed out Nisman’s accusations.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.