Embarrassing Video Catches Argentine Politician Lying

Former Buenos Aires Mayor Aníbal Ibarra is feeling like a pretty big idiot.

In a televised interview last night, film crews showed Ibarra walking the streets of Buenos Aires shaking hands with an unusual number of unusually admiring people. Each approached him with words of praise and affectionate gestures. All of this seemed a bit strange for the television crew, whose cameras caught Ibarra in the middle of an embarrassing lie.

As it turns out, Ibarra’s admirers weren’t really the simpleton citizens they appeared to be. Ibarra appears to have gotten them to follow him around the city during the interview and pose as his fans. But the stage trick, which undoubtedly is employed by politicians around the world, backfired, exposing Ibarra, who is running for Congress in next June’s election, as inauthentic and dishonest.

There’s nothing particularly nefarious about Ibarra’s behavior. In the world of political abuse, this fraudulent act seems like a minor transgression, a reckless PR gaffe. Stage tricks and other PR gimmicks are common for politicos in all countries, especially when they’re running for office.

But the video exposé could be particularly damaging for Ibarra, who has for years accused political opponents of inauthentic posturing. The video itself is devastating. Cameras from the news program Telenoche caught Ibarra lying on camera about the whole matter. In the middle of the interview, Ibarra stops and says he needs to make a call. He says he needs to give a radio interview with Radio America. But in reality, a visibly nervous Ibarra calls one of his collaborators to warn him that the actors are being too obvious.

“Get them out of here. It’s time already, because they (at Telenoche) are catching on,” Ibarra says, unaware that he’s being recorded. “Get them out!”

At one point, one of the fake admirers says, “Ibarra’s government was the best (¡Su gobierno fue lo más!). A Telenoche reporter, already skeptical about the actor’s authenticity, asks the actor what she liked most about Ibarra’s government. Incredibly, the woman responds by making a reference to Ibarra’s controversial removal from office.

Ibarra was mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000-2005. He was impeached after the December 2004  República Cromagnon nightclub fire killed almost 200 people and spurred a massive backlash against local politicians.

UPDATE: On his Facebook page, Ibarra says the “actors” were genuine fans who had, out of their own free volition, decided to follow him around in a bid to make him look good on camera. He didn’t hire or encourage them to do so, Ibarra says, adding that the actors were in reality people were political “militants” who had “been participating in our activities for a long time.”

Perhaps. But if that’s the case, there are a number of things that don’t add up. For example, when one of the women was asked whey she had said Ibarra’s administration had been “lo más,” why didn’t she give a reason why she actually thought so. Presumably, a political “militant” who had worked with Ibarra for years would be able to come up with a reason why she thought he was “lo más.” Perhaps she just got nervous on camera.

You be the judge.

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