Raúl Granillo Ocampo

Raúl Granillo Ocampo was a lawyer and political ally of Carlos Menem whose public career moved between the judiciary, the presidency, and diplomacy. He qualified as a lawyer at nineteen, later presided over La Rioja's Superior Tribunal of Justice in 1985–86, and taught law. After Menem became president in 1989, Granillo Ocampo served as his legal and technical secretary. The two men's association went back to their childhood in Anillaco. ¹

Appointed ambassador to the United States in 1993, Granillo Ocampo remained in Washington until Menem brought him into the Justice Ministry in 1997. A contemporary report of his departure describes a network spanning the Clinton administration, Congress, and finance. His spokesman reported congratulatory calls from Thomas McLarty, Jeffrey Davidow, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, and Citicorp's William Rhodes. He served as justice minister until the end of Menem's presidency in 1999. ^{1, 2}

Two criminal proceedings followed his political career. In September 2017 a federal trial court acquitted him of illicit enrichment on reasonable doubt grounds. In October 2018 the Federal Criminal Cassation Court also acquitted him in the public funds case concerning supplemental payments to officials, overturning the relevant part of his earlier conviction and confiscation order. ^{3, 4}