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Political Polarization and Nisman’s Death: Competing Conspiracy Theories in Argentina

2016; Lindenwood University; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.62608/2158-0669.1322

2158-0669

Leopoldo Puente Rodriguez, Shawn Smallman,

Social Media and Politics

The death of Alberto Nisman, the chief investigator of the 1994 AMIA bombing in Argentina, unleashed conspiracy theories and significant political turmoil upon President Cristina Fernández. We study the case and trace two of these theories, asking what they tell us about the Argentine political system and what can be inferred with respect to other countries in Latin America. We confirm that nations with high levels of political polarization are fertile ground for the emergence of conspiracy theories and that domestic and international media play an important role in both giving credence to and spreading such theories.