Argentina's San Luis education minister resigns: what happens in Amsterdam must stay in Amsterdam

The Education Minister of the Argentine province of San Luis, Natalia Spinuzza, tendered her resignation on Monday, after a video of her stoned after smoking a joint caused a stir. The video dates back a year and was shot on her honeymoon in Amsterdam, where cannabis consumption is legal. She appears in it explaining that she drank a lot and smoked a joint. Her resignation is the subject of much debate, given the private nature of the video and the unintentional nature of its publication on the Internet.

Political blackmail

On the video, intended for her loved ones, we hear her say that she smoked «a few lattes» and was «all stoned». She explains that she didn't feel well, ate a lot of Doritos and that weed «sent her to Mars» on a «cosmic voyage». In an interview with Radio FM Ciudad, She acknowledges that her behavior may have been disappointing in view of her position, but points out that she was on leave at the time and did not broadcast the video herself.

Apparently, an unknown individual began blackmailing him several months ago after hacking into his personal data stored on his computer and cell phone. «I deleted this video eight months ago, and the people in my close circle who had received it also deleted it. Someone kept it to broadcast it when the time came (...) I don't know who is behind this blackmail», she declared. According to her, the broadcast of the video is intended to discredit her. In an interview with Cadena 3, she declared: «It's deplorable that my privacy should have been violated for political gain».

The controversy

On social networks, many Internet users expressed their shock and called for his resignation. This was also the case for political figures such as the senator and brother of the governor, Adolfo Rodríguez Saà, and the deputy and president of the Education Commission of the Congress of the Nation. Other Internet users have expressed their solidarity with the young woman, pointing out that she has done nothing illegal and that it is the broadcasting of the video that is illegal and a violation of privacy.

Some denounce an extreme social condemnation for the simple act of smoking cannabis. Natalia Spinuzza is not the first politician to confess to smoking cannabis: Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and even Manuel Valls confessed to having tried it, even though they were never caught in flagrante «délit». Nevertheless, the Minister has apologized and regrets her actions: «I'm sorry I did it, even though it was in my private life. Many people took it badly and I apologize».

The governor of the province has accepted her resignation because of the scandal and controversy sparked by the video, but the young woman will remain a civil servant in his administration. He expressed his support calling her a «victim», while severely condemning the political manipulations that led to her resignation, putting her at the heart of a scandal for a simple «youthful error».