The drug trafficking that splashes José Luis Espet unleashed a storm in networks and on the political board. On October 2, the deputy published a video where he admitted to having received $ 200,000 from a company linked to Federico “Fred” Machado, an entrepreneur arrested in the US for drug trafficking, washing and fraud. He presented it as fees for mining consulting, denied illicit links and denounced a “dirty campaign.” But the explanation, far from calming, multiplied the criticisms: the hashtag #espertnarco became a trend and rained teasing for their 35 trips in private planes of Machado, in addition to the “Libernarco” nickname.
A Flash report by the Ingob consultant published today dimensioned the digital scope of the case: more than 720 thousand mentions and 105 thousand users participating with posts and retweets, which reached a total of more than 110 million views. Nine out of ten messages were negative and 75 percent of the conversation concentrated on retweets, which amplifies viralization. The mentions curve grew in a sustained manner throughout the week, while Google searches on spert and “Fred” Machado increased 900% and exceeded 25 thousand consultations. The study also recorded that the audience was mostly male (59%) and that four out of ten users were between 24 and 35 years old. In this adverse context, he highlighted the attitude of President Javier Milei, who conducted more than 25 retweets in Defense of Sister, an unusual gesture that seeks to shield it politically. The report also remarked that the deputy was a number one trend for hours and that the hashtag #espertnarco exceeded 23 thousand mentions.
The leader Juan recordois, who in 2021 had already accused him of collusion with Machado, filed the initial criminal complaint and redoubled the bet in X: “This scoundrel cannot deny that he received Fred Machado’s silver. It is the most obscene confession of complicity between politics and drug trafficking.” Days before I had anticipated: “When you can’t explain why the narco put you planes, armored cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars, you are up to the balls.”
From the ruling, Lilia Lemoine sought to contain the crisis. He recalled that in 2019 he had said that “a narco banned him without knowing it,” but justified that he then “had no causes” and defended Espert as a victim of an “opposition operetta.”
The reactions did not wait. The historian Ezequiel Adamovsky said: “Two testimonies already show that he lied. There is evidence that they were a society. It is incomprehensible to support him.” The user @osodeplatino ironized: “They ask him if he charged $ 200,000 from the narco and refuses to answer it seven times.”
With minority support eclipsed by the critical wave, the case re -installed doubts about the sister campaign in 2019, based on judicial revelations in Texas. The episode hits its credibility and shakes the government of Milei on the days of the legislative of October 26, with X turned into a battlefield of polarization and political satire.
