The province of Chaco in northern Argentina is celebrating primary elections this Sunday with an unexpected protagonist: Cecilia Strzyzowksi. She is 28 years old and has been missing since June 1st. Her case, which is being investigated by prosecutors as an alleged femicide, has shocked the country like no other before it and has brought the final phase of the Chaco election campaign into focus, as three of the seven accused were close to the governor, the Peronist Jorge Capitanich . Strzyzowksi’s father-in-law, powerful social leader Emerenciano Sena; his wife, Marcela Acuña; and one of Sena’s closest associates, Gustavo Obregón, ran as pre-candidates for the electoral alliance led by Capitanich. They were struck off the list after being charged with the crime of aggravated femicide, but that political connection lands the governor, who is seeking a fourth term, in trouble. The opposition welcomes a chance for change after 16 years of uninterrupted Peronist rule in the province, one of Argentina’s poorest.
“The next election march will take place on Sunday. “That must be the real march for Cecilia,” Strzyzowksi’s mother, Gloria Romero, has been asking herself since Friday. Through the media, Romero implores Chaco society to “vote for an end to impunity.” It is unknown what reaction this appeal will provoke and what impact the case will have on Capitanich, who started as a favorite in the polls.
Cecilia Strzyzowksi was last seen 19 days ago. Surveillance cameras recorded him entering his in-laws’ house on the outskirts of Resistencia, the capital of Chaco, with his partner César Sena, 19. From what happened from that moment there are only conjectures.
The prosecutors’ main hypothesis is that she was murdered by the Sena in this house and that her remains were later disposed of in a large family field about 25 kilometers away, where a pig farm is operated. Evidence supporting this line of investigation includes the alleged bloodstains found when the house was searched and the inconsistencies in César Sena’s testimony.
The police have carried out several raids in the family area, so far with negative results. For the past few hours, all attention has focused on a few bags of skeletal remains that were found this Saturday and are undergoing analysis. More remains were found days earlier, but the forensic team was unable to determine whether they were human or animal due to their serious state of deterioration and has said they will conduct further testing.
“Things are going wrong”
The mother of the missing young woman asks President Alberto Fernández to send reinforcements as soon as possible to solve the case and to do everything in his power to ensure the independence of the Chaco judiciary, including by intervening in the judiciary if necessary Province. “There are many irregularities in the investigation,” Romero warns over the phone. “The President is a lawyer, so he knows very well that things are being done wrong. I ask you to provide the technical resources needed to advance this cause,” he adds.
While all of Argentina wonders where Cecilia is, the national opposition has used the case to twice attack Emerenciano Sena and Capitanich. The first, charged with alleged femicide, is one of Chaco’s most prominent social leaders. His proximity to the governor, who witnessed his wedding, favored the granting of public funds for social plans and the construction of houses in a district of Resistencia, Emerenciano, baptized in his name. The Sena couple is also under investigation for suspected money laundering and tax evasion. The case came after a search of the house looking for evidence found more than six million pesos in cash (about US$23,500 at the official price).
In 2022, Chaco, the province with the highest rate in Argentina, had 12 femicides: 1.93 homicides per 100,000 women. In the first half of this year, seven have already been registered. Unlike the other victims, the political connections of those accused by Strzyzowksi, in the midst of Argentina’s election campaign, have given this case unusual visibility, encouraged by the opposition.
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, presidential candidate of the opposition coalition Juntos por el Cambio, assured that “it is distressing to see that the national government is doing nothing that could be done to speed up the investigation”, and listed below the measures taken which must be taken he would assume if he were President.
His internal party rival, Patricia Bullrich, compared Emerenciano Sena to Milagro Sala, the Peronist-linked social leader who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for evading public funds in Jujuy province. “The financing of semi-state mafia organizations ends with me,” promised the former Macrista security minister on Saturday via social networks.
From Chaco, they are cautious about predicting the impact of Strzyzowksi’s disappearance on this Sunday’s election result. “It will definitely have an impact on Jorge Capitanich, but it’s not known to what extent. No survey is very accurate,” says Ayrton Teruel, a journalist with Diario Chaco who has been following the case since day one. Teruel reports how Strzyzowksi’s alleged femicide turned a 180-degree turn on some elections where, until June, internal opposition was the main stimulus. “Emerenciano was one of the main promoters of public policy, but it was difficult to find information about him in the province because his family got away with it largely,” he says.
The Chaco candidates will be determined this Sunday. The real litmus test for the Peronist Capitanich will be the September 17 provincial elections.
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