In a twist that promises to shake the foundations of Buenos Aires justice, the Insaurralde case will have a new judge after the winter break: Tomás Rodríguez Ponte, former secretary of the controversial magistrate Ariel Lijo, will be in charge of deciding the future of the former mayor of Lomas de Zamora and his ex-wife, Jesica Cirio. Rodríguez Ponte’s nomination is already in the Senate, and on July 30 he will face a key interview before senators vote on his appointment. It is taken for granted that he will obtain the necessary votes for President Javier Milei to decree his appointment to head the Federal Court No. 2 of Lomas de Zamora.
Today, that court is vacant and the substitute is Luis Armella, federal judge of Quilmes, who is subrogating the court until August 31, with the possibility of a six-month extension. However, sources from the federal courts of Lomas confirmed that Armella will not lift a finger in the case until the new judge arrives. «He will not make any substantive decisions; it is a matter of respect for the titular judge, so as not to condition him,» a source close to Armella said. This means that, for now, there will be no arrests or interrogations. Prosecutor Sergio Mola insists on the request for Insaurralde’s interrogation and arrest, but everything will remain on standby until Rodríguez Ponte takes office.
Rodríguez Ponte is no stranger to the corridors of judicial power. Married to Alejandra Mangano, a federal prosecutor in Comodoro Py and daughter of Alfredo Mangano, the right-hand man of historic judge María Servini, he is part of the so-called «judicial family.» His career is marked by his ties to Lijo, for whom he served as legal secretary, and to former Supreme Court President Ricardo Lorenzetti. He currently heads the Directorate of Judicial Assistance in Complex Crimes and Organized Crime (Dajudeco), the area that handles wiretapping and expert reports for the country’s most complex cases. He has just returned from a trip to Paris with Lijo, Judge Sebastián Casanello, and Justice Minister Juan Bautista Mahiques, where they presented before the FATF on money laundering.
The court he will take over is key: it deals with what happens in the Ezeiza prison and airport, and organized crime in a hotbed area of the suburbs. Rodríguez Ponte was proposed for that position three times. He won the competition in 2018, when Mauricio Macri sent his name to the Senate, but Kirchnerism never processed it. Alberto Fernández withdrew the nominations and did not propose him either. Now, with Milei in power, the Senate must define his future. Kirchnerism accused him of leaking conversations of Cristina Kirchner during his tenure at Dajudeco, but nothing was proven. However, that background was enough to stall his nomination in the past.
With Rodríguez Ponte in charge, the Insaurralde case enters a new phase. He is expected to decide on the request for interrogation, the possible arrest of the former official, and progress on Jesica Cirio. Meanwhile, Buenos Aires Peronism and the mayors of the suburbs watch out of the corner of their eye, knowing that the new judge draws from the line of the Comodoro Py judicial family, far from local pressures. The winter judicial recess will be the last breather before everything explodes.
para mi esto es otro amigo de lijo agarrando el juzgado mafia pura el caso insaurralde es todo teatro los zurdos hdps se van a salir con la suya la justicia es un chiste 🤬
Para mí esto es un choreo de la justicia burguesa, otro amigo de Lijo agarrando un juzgado como si fuera un curro familiar. Mientras los Insaurralde se mandan la parte en yates, estos tipos se turnan los cargos. Me parece una vergüenza, huele a mafia judicial.