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CLARIN

Central Bank Discotheque, Part Of Alleged Kirchner-Era Excess

Cristina Kirchner in December 2015
Cristina Kirchner in December 2015

BUENOS AIRES For supporters and critics alike, the recently concluded eight years of President Cristina Kirchner"s government provided no shortage of bright lights and loud music.

Now, just over a month after the presidential victory of Kirchner rival Mauricio Macri, emerging headlines tell of a secret bonafide disco party.

Clarín reports that new Central Bank chief Carlos Melconian claims to have found a "private discotheque" in one of the bank's offices that he believes was built by the scandal-plagued former Vice President Amado Boudou.

Kirchner administraton critics believe a massive spending spree has contributed to raising public debts to near 7% of the Gross Domestic Product.

Clarin, a top Buenos Aires daily, reports that Melconian and his entourage toured their new offices during his first day at work, and found a locked room without keys. When the room was forced open, it revealed a virtual party pad, complete with music systems and a colorful twirling disco globe. Neither Kirchner or Boudou have commented on the latest reports regarding the Central Bank finding.

Clarin notes that Kirchner herself was not averse to certain luxuries, and quite alien to the "poor" Argentinians who she and her Peronist party claimed to defend. In the old tradition of Evita Perón, another lover of luxuries, Kirchner's goodies included a private helicopter pad built at the city's arts and science fairground, Tecnópolis, as well as a "presidential boudoir."

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Photo of U2 performing at Las Vegas’ new $2.3-billion Sphere venue over the weekend.

U2 performing at Las Vegas’ new $2.3-billion Sphere venue over the weekend.

Emma Albright, Valeria Berghinz, Michelle Courtois, Laure Gautherin and Anne-Sophie Goninet

👋 Ello-hay!*


Welcome to Monday, where Turkey strikes Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq hours after a suicide blast hit Ankara’s interior ministry, a UN mission arrives in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Nobel Prize season kicks off. Meanwhile, Wiktoria Bielaszyn, in Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, reports on the suspected spy network operated by the Russian Orthodox Church through its clergy members abroad, particularly in the U.S.

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