The head of the Argentine intelligence agency, who is a key aide to President Fernando de la Rua, resigned yesterday in the wake of the country's corruption scandal. The decision comes after questions were raised about his role in a vote-buying scandal. Fernando de Santibanes resigned under pressure from the ruling Alliance coalition. His departure follows accusations by a government auditor that he hid official cash from an investigation into bribes allegedly paid to the opposition Peronist Party to get them to pass a reform bill in April.
The resignation means the loss of the president's most trusted advisors but it will defuse tension within the Alliance, which has been close to collapse as result of the scandal. President De la Rua's promises to fight corruption helped win him election last October after ten scandal-marred years under Peronist President Carlos Menem.
