Suitcase of cash sparks new scandal in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A scandal over a businessman carrying a suitcase of cash on a government-hired jet has put President Nestor Kirchner on the defensive as he tries to help his wife replace him at this year's election.

Claudio Uberti, a highway official who is one of Kirchner's key negotiators on energy deals with Venezuela, resigned on Thursday after he allowed a Venezuelan businessman carrying almost $800,000 in undeclared cash to travel on a jet hired by Argentine state energy company Enarsa.

The scandal comes a month after Kirchner's economy minister was forced to resign over more than $60,000 found stashed in a bag in her office bathroom.

Opposition politicians, who are struggling in polls ahead of the October 28 presidential vote, jumped on the new cash case.

"This is from God, I'm super happy. The truth has come out, and it is proof of corruption in this government," leftist presidential candidate Elisa Carrio told La Nacion newspaper.

First lady and long-time senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is running to replace her husband as president and polls show her well ahead of all opposition candidates. Her support has so far held steady despite a series of corruption scandals involving government officials in recent months.

Kirchner's government is generally seen as austere and relatively clean after the heavy spending and large corruption scandals of Argentine governments in the 1990s, but opposition leaders are now questioning that reputation.

"This reminds me of the '90s," Esteban Bullrich, a lawmaker with the center-right PRO party, said of the new cash scandal.

Uberti flew to Venezuela on Saturday along with the head of Enarsa to discuss Venezuelan oil company PDVSA's investments in Argentine energy projects.

On the way home, three PDVSA officials, the son of a PDVSA executive, and a Venezuelan businessman joined the Argentines on the jet, Enarsa said. Customs officials found $800,000 in undeclared cash in the suitcase of the businessman, Guido Antonini, when the group landed in Buenos Aires.

A prosecutor investigating the case said the money had been confiscated. Local media reported that Antonini was not arrested and had left the country.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on a two-day trip to Argentina earlier this week to announce a $400 million energy investment, denied Antonini was part of his entourage and said talk of that was part of a conspiracy by the United States.

Chavez, a vocal left-wing critic of the United States who has used Venezuela's petrodollars to win influence in South America, has close ties to Kirchner. He is on a regional tour this week to announce energy investments in four countries.