Buenos Aires, Argentina - December 12, 2024 The Argentine Senate expelled on Thursday by a large majority Senator Edgardo Kueider, detained since last week in Paraguay for trying to enter that country with more than 200,000 undeclared dollars. By 61 votes in favor, five against and one abstention, the upper house approved the removal of Kueider, who is under house arrest in Asunción and from now on lost his immunity after the decision of the senators. Minutes before the start of the session, Argentine federal judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado had asked the Senate to remove the legislator's immunity so that she could proceed with the arrest through diplomatic channels of the parliamentarian, who is investigated in Paraguay for smuggling and with an open case also in Argentina for alleged illicit enrichment. The removal of immunity is a condition for the Argentine justice system to be able to take action against the senator, given that it is constitutionally prohibited from detaining, raiding and intercepting legislators' communications.