The Lower House voted against sanctioning five deputies from ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza (LLA) who visited dictatorship-era repressors serving sentences for crimes against humanity. The visit took place at the Ezeiza prison on July 11 but made headlines last week.

Left-wing deputy Nicolás del Caño kicked off Wednesday’s session by proposing a motion to change the order of the day, requesting instead to start with a condemnation of the deputies and to form a commission to investigate the matter. The motion was rejected with 113 votes against and 112 votes in favor. Four deputies abstained.

All LLA deputies voted against the motion except for Rocío Bonacci, who, curiously, was part of the visit but later claimed that she was deceived as to what the true objective of the visit was. According to Bonacci, she refused to participate in the meeting once the group arrived at the prison and she realized who they were going to see. She has since stated that Lower House head Martín Menem authorized the visit.

“We were very upset........

© Buenos Aires Herald