In recent years, visits by characters from the red circle have intensified in Lago Escondido. From that paradisiacal place, a fine relationship work began to be done that coincides with the growth of the Patagonia Energía hydroelectric plant, which supplies electricity to the residence of the English magnate Joe Lewis and also sells the surplus to the community of El Bolsón.
Very close to the main residence, where Lewis sleeps when he travels to Argentina, a lodge was built to receive tourists and that in recent years has been used as a place for “spiritual retreats” by local and multinational companies.
But the most illustrious visitors, those who stay in the main residence and not in the surroundings, are those who claim to have an influence on the life of the country: judges, officials, the business and media establishment, trade unionists and even powerful foreigners. The objective of Lewis and his lieutenant Nicolás Van Ditmar, the administrator of the English magnate’s properties in Argentina, is to connect with relevant actors in society and with power groups. Lobby. He was exposed with the scandal caused by the visit of four judges, Carlos Mahiques, Julián Ercolini, Pablo Yadarola and Pablo Cayssials; the chief prosecutor of the city of Buenos Aires, Juan Bautista Mahiques; the Minister of Security of the same district, Marcelo D’Alessandro; former SIDE agent Leonardo Bergroth; the nephew of Héctor Magnetto and director of institutional affairs of Telecom, of the shareholders of Grupo Clarín, Pablo Casey; the president of the same Group, Jorge Rendo; and Tomás Reinke, consultant and official guide bagger.
To understand the dynamics of the encounter it is important to focus on how the relationships are. And there the figure of Tomás Reinke becomes central because he is the link that unites Nicolás Van Ditmar with the visitors.
Reinke worked in the commercial areas of Grupo Clarín until 2008 and then, between 2015 and 2020, he settled in the Rio Negro valley to work as manager of the Río Negro newspaper, which allowed him to meet Van Ditmar. In the midst of the pandemic, he returned to Buenos Aires and his friend Andrés Bidart, owner of Grupo Sentidos, proposed that he take over the digital marketing agency Mediabit SA, part of the same venture. This is how he recovered his relationship with Clarín, because among the clients of Grupo Sentidos there are state accounts such as those of Anses, Pami, the Presidency of the Nation, YPF, Aysa and the Ministry of the Interior, among others, which post official guidelines in the media. . In Clarín, without going any further.
The Telegram chat that the visitors organized after the trip was to follow the repercussions of the case and try to hide the fact that they did not pay for the flight or the stay, but it ended up leaking to the media. In these conversations it becomes clear that it is Reinke who maintains communication with the administrator of Lago Escondido.
Julian Ercolini: Isn’t it easier for us to bill Lago Escondido for two nights with half board? And fuck it, we don’t have to make anything up.
Jorge Rendo: It’s not bad, besides nobody spends money to conspire. For that, a dinner is made in Buenos Aires and that’s it. Haha!
Ercolini: Of course, they bill us for the transfer, accommodation and half board. Pablo, Tommy, can you do that? And it is over. Then we file a complaint for espionage.
Thomas Reinke: There I ask Nico.
Nico is Nicolas Van Ditmar. In other words, the person who mediated with the host was the consultant Reinke.
Thread. This type of travel does not have a specific purpose. They are done to strengthen relationships. To influence and have lobbying power. It’s influence peddling. In the case of the controversial trip, everyone has something to gain. Clarín is interested in being in good relations with judges who could affect their interests or rule in their favor -as they already did- and also to consolidate ties with the Minister of Security of the City of Buenos Aires, who buys communication systems from Telecom, owned by multimedia shareholders.
The judges are interested in being on good terms with Grupo Clarín to be able to use media protection if needed, and also with Marcelo D’Alessandro, who, until this scandal, had an expectant place in a hypothetical presidency of Horacio Rodríguez. Larreta.
It helps lawyer Bergroth to strengthen his ties with judges, with security forces and with Clarín. Something similar happens with D’Alessandro and Reinke.
Even the aeronautical businessman Gustavo Carmona is an indirect beneficiary of these relationships, because, according to what emerges from the chat, the trip would have been a courtesy of his that later they tried to cover with trout invoices. Carmona is a close friend of Juan Bautista Mahiques.
Joe Lewis and Nicolás Van Ditmar are also beneficiaries of the relationships that are consolidated in that Patagonian paradise. One example is enough: in September 2021, Judge Carlos Mahiques signed the closure of the case for the sale of the land in Lago Escondido, in El Bolsón. In other words, his decision benefited the tycoon.
In the same way, in December 2016, Judge Ercolini, another of the travelers, dismissed Héctor Magnetto, the boss of Clarín, in the Papel Prensa case. And in February 2015, Judge Cayssials, also invited, suspended Grupo Clarín’s ex officio compliance with the Media Law.
Most of them already knew each other before, so this trip did not work as the debut in a relationship, but rather as one more chapter of a group that has been oiling its ties.
What entertainment does the place offer? The main one is to stay in the mansion of Lewis himself, who has an art collection in one of the rooms overlooking the lake. There are horses, llamas and you can even see huemules that live in the wild and that gave the members of the chat their name: “los huemules”. Visitors also have at their disposal the soccer field, the paddle court, the karting track, and in the most VIP cases, such as the one on the aforementioned excursion, the English tycoon’s embroidered helicopter is available to go wherever they want. On this occasion, the tourists from the scandalous trip were taken in the aircraft to the base of one of the hills in the area to drink whiskey in the snow.
Tomás Reinke suffered reprisals for having been one of the shipowners on the trip. Grupo Sentidos arranged for the company to leave because the scandal could result in the loss of government clients. Reinke himself knew that the trip leak could cause him problems and he said so in a Telegram voice message. “I am the least exposed of all since I do not hold a public function. Yes, I am exposed, and a lot, with respect to certain clients that I have, who take this as a conspiracy, ”he said. Reinke referred as “clients” to the State departments that La Cámpora manages and that delegated the administration of the official schedule to Grupo Sentidos. La Cámpora, on his Twitter account, put a face on Reinke to expose him as a participant in the “secret meeting.” In his Linkedin account, Reinke stated that he has not worked at the Mediabit company since December 2022. That is, since this month, although the trip had been in October.
With Mauritius. One of the most frequent visitors to Lago Escondido is former President Macri, who maintains a personal relationship with Lewis, usually visits the mansion every summer and even goes when the host is not there. Last year he accompanied the Arab businessman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, owner of the English football club Newcastle, who visited Patagonia. Martín Migoya, owner of the Globant company, also participated in that visit to Lago Escondido. Witnesses say that Lewis’s helicopter picked him up at his hotel in Villa La Angostura. Migoya denies it.
During Macri’s presidency, former United States President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were also passing through Lago Escondido, according to the Télam news agency.
Another foreigner who invested in the area, near the Lake, is the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to the site La Política Online. The intermediary in this case would have been the former tennis player Gastón Gaudio.
In terms of local heads of state, the last governors of the Río Negro province from the 1990s to today have passed through Lewis’ ranch: Pablo Verani, Miguel Saiz, Carlos Soria, Alberto Weretilneck and Arabela Carreras. They all went on informal visits.
Lewis was last year during February. He came a few days and left. According to sources consulted by this magazine, the English tycoon is upset with the local community because throughout these years he tried in a thousand ways to help and seduce the El Bolsón community, but he was always rejected. During the Hantavirus epidemic, he would have traveled with medicines to the local hospital and they were not accepted. On the other hand, he tried to build a new hospital and couldn’t. All these details were moving him away to such an extent that he would have already warned that this summer he will not pass through the country.
The businesses around Lago Escondido, in addition to this vein of tourist lobby, consist of an internet company called Patagonia Wi, the already mentioned hydroelectric plant, cattle exploitation and also agricultural development, organization of social events, gastronomy and even services of helicopter flights. This last company is called Helipatagonia.
In addition to his investments in the south, Lewis also has shares in Pampa Energía, the company owned by Marcelo Mindlin, another of his visitors. As of September 2021, it had 7.1% of the share capital of Pampa Energía. Lewis was benefited by the policies of his friend Macri, who during his presidency allowed rate increases by electric companies.
More visits. Regarding the media, Clarín representatives were not the only ones who visited Lago Escondido. Fernán Saguier from the newspaper La Nación and the goalkeepers’ unionist, Víctor Santa María, who has, among other media, the newspaper Página/12, which uncovered the case, also traveled. The latter was invited by the owner of Grupo Sentidos, Andrés Bidart. at Reinke’s request.
The guests from the media universe behaved as expected. Clarín only made reference to the scandal when President Alberto Fernández announced on a national channel that he was going to denounce those involved. In the newspaper La Nación, Saguier himself wrote that he was not going to echo this news because the leaking of the chats was illegal. And the newspaper Página/12, the first to publish the news of the trip, stopped giving the case on its cover. Even in its edition of Wednesday, December 14, after the raid that took place in Lago Escondido, perhaps one of the most relevant measures since the affair was uncovered.
The Patagonian paradise awaits new guests.
