Thursday, March 27, 2008

Puerto Rico's Governor Acevedo Charged in Sealed Indictment by the Justice Department




Here is the AP/Times Tribune Report:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila is among several people named in a sealed indictment, officials said Thursday, as U.S. authorities made the first arrests in a long-running probe into his party's finances.

An Associated Press reporter saw at least five officials from the Popular Democratic Party as they were led in handcuffs into the U.S. federal building in San Juan.

An FBI spokesman declined to provide any details, saying there would be news conference later.

Acevedo has said previously that he was a focus of the grand jury probe but he was not among those seen in custody. His spokeswoman said he was still home sleeping at the time of the early morning arrests as far as she knew.

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the indictment was still sealed, told The Associated Press that Acevedo was among several people named in the indictment.

A government official also said Acevedo would be charged in the indictment and that the governor's attorneys were expected to appear in court later Thursday. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

A Harvard-educated attorney and career politician, Acevedo, 45, served in Washington as the island's nonvoting delegate to Congress, and was elected governor in 2004 after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform. He is running for re-election this year.

Acevedo's party favors maintaining the island's semiautonomous relationship with the U.S. mainland. His leading opponent in the governor's race favors making Puerto Rico the 51st state.


There is no love lost here between the island and the embattled governor, but it will definitely make matters really interesting in November's general election in Puerto Rico.

1 comment:

Ciara said...

Una auditoria electoral, en medio de unas elecciones tiene que ser efectuada a todos los partidos en igual forma. De otra forma habria parcializada intromision politica. Si esto ocurriera inmediatamente despues de unas elecciones, seria otra cosa. Esta situacion es muy grave cuando esta auditoria parcializada la efectua una entidad foranea, el FBI, a las leyes de eleccion de nuestra nacion. Mas grave aun es cuando llevada a cabo por la fuerza colonial que divide nuestro pais.

Todo el mundo sabe que los principales partidos politicos en PR, en unas administraciones mas que en otras, han lavado $$$; en este caso no se le acusa de corrupcion pues no son fondo publicos. Procesar solamente a uno de ellos, por esta probable practica ilicita comun, (luego de hacer, durante 3 anos sin verguenza alguna un parcializado y prejuiciado ejercicio desesperado de pesca de aguja en un pajar) es llevarlo a paredon, o al menos, tratar de ejecutarlo. Esto toma mayor injusticia cuando el intento de particidio ocurre en medio de unas elecciones. Y aun es mayor la
injusticia, cuando se regala a un pueblo deprimido por irracionales batallas partidistas dentro de
las entranas del gobierno.

Analicemos la cantidad de pruebas, testimonios que incriminan al partido opositor, el Partido Nuevo Pogresista Pro Estadidad con EU, con mas de 40 convictos, expresando en plena corte federal que robaban fondos publicos para el partdio. Pruebas que la Fiscalia federal ha dejado pasar sin dar importancia.

Solo habria justicia si la investigacion ocurriera, paralelamente, en igual forma, contra todos los partidos.