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Argentine Prosecutors Open Probe Into Agostina Páez’s Father After Racist‑Gesture Video

Brazilian officials called the footage a mockery of the law, a sign the case faces intense public scrutiny before the Rio court issues its ruling.

Overview

  • The Public Ministry in Santiago del Estero, which opened an inquiry Sunday, is examining whether Mariano Páez’s conduct in the viral bar video breaks criminal law.
  • In Rio de Janeiro, prosecutors and the waiters’ lawyer condemned the video as unacceptable and a mockery of Brazilian law.
  • Agostina Páez’s attorney said the clip should not affect the case because the evidence phase is closed, though she conceded it has complicated public perception.
  • Páez returned to Argentina after a habeas corpus ruling and a bond of about $20,000, and the Brazilian case remains open awaiting a final decision.
  • Páez, speaking in interviews Monday, said her gesture in Ipanema was a rash reaction to an obscene sign rather than to skin color, and she repudiated her father’s actions.