Argentina president urged to explain Panama Papers link
Argentine President Mauricio Macri's political opponents urged him Monday to clarify his links to a company named in the Panama Papers offshore finance scandal.
The conservative president, his father, and his brother Mariano were on the board of directors of Fleg Trading, an offshore company registered in the Bahamas, the newspaper La Nacion reported.
Several top members of the Renewal Front, a center-right alliance that forms part of the political opposition, called for Macri to explain his role.
"There must be no doubt over the president's image. He should be on national television giving a very good explanation," said Marco Lavagna, a senior Renewal Front lawmaker.
The government said in a statement on Sunday that Macri was never a stakeholder in the company and was therefore not obliged to declare his "circumstantial" role as director.
The company was registered in the Bahamas in 1998 and operated until 2009, when Macri was mayor of Buenos Aires, La Nacion said.
He took office as president of Argentina in December last year after beating his leftist rival in a runoff election. During campaigning he vowed to fight corruption.
La Nacion is one of more than 100 newspapers that published leaked documents revealing offshore accounts allegedly used by public figures worldwide to avoid tax.
Before becoming president, Macri was convicted of tax evasion in 2001 for activities in an auto company that he founded with his father.