Argentina's president reacted angrily Thursday to U.S. charges that a suitcase full of Venezuelan cash was intended to finance her presidential campaign, calling it an example of "garbage in international politics."
President Cristina Fernandez also suggested that anyone who might think a female president is more easily influenced is wrong.
The disclosure came Wednesday in a Miami court hearing for a criminal complaint against four men arrested and charged with being illegal Venezuelan agents who attempted a cover-up.
U.S. prosecutors said a suitcase filled with nearly $800,000 was a campaign contribution from the Venezuelan government to Fernandez, who was inaugurated this week as Argentina's first popularly elected female president.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government called it a "fabricated scandal."
Fernandez said she remains undeterred in her quest to deepen "relations with all Latin American nations and also friendship with ... Venezuela."
"This president may be a woman but she's not going to allow herself to be pressured," said Fernandez, alluding to the scandal.
She also took a jab at officials in the U.S. government, complaining that "more than friendly nations, they want countries... subordinated" to them.
