Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Posted on 10/28/2008 9:30:46 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
SAN JUAN - Eight days before the elections, Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá made a televised address on Monday in which he spoke about the federal indictments against him, which he described as "injurious", and asked the people to make their own judgement.
"These accusations against me are false, injurious, and I am not going to tolerate them. Perhaps those who believe the most important thing in life is money may ignore things such as these, but not me," the Governor said in a calm and serene tone.
The Chief Executive emphasized that, among the 24 indictments the U.S. Attorney attributes to him, "there is not a single allegation of bribery, extortion, or the diversion of public funds," but that all are related to funds from his past political campaigns.
“There is not a single corruption allegation," he affirmed.
Acevedo gave his version of events.
"I have never committed, nor have I ever participated in, any illegal act, and I have not permitted that to happen. I am going to explain to you the facts so that you, and only you, be the only judge," he indicated.
He detailed some aspects of the indictments related to a Philadelphia fundraising scheme for his 2000 Resident Commissioner campaign.
[Acevedo] indicated that Puerto Rican businessman Cándido Negrón, who lives in Philadelphia, raised the money without his having knowledge of how funds were being collected.
According to the indictment, Negrón made donations to the campaign in exchange for Acevedo to grant him access to government agencies to obtain contracts, and made donations on behalf of third parties when the money belonged to him, in violation of federal law.
"What's important, what's vital, and what the public record shows is that I never intervened with any agency in deciding to grant or deny a contract. Evidence doesn't exist because it didn't happen, and the U.S. Attorney knows it," the Chief Executive indicated.
Negrón, who has expressed interest in becoming a witness for the Governor, did not obtain a single contract with the government of Puerto Rico. The dental businessman is also indicted along with the Governor and 11 other people.
"I was never informed how Negrón was raising funds in Philadelphia for my campaign. If there was something irregular about the contributions he collected, I had neither knowledge of it nor a reason to know," [Acevedo] maintained.
He recognized that "the problem of irregular donations is something that, unfortunately, happens, and it's one of the difficulties and risks of legitimately raising campaign funds."
The Governor also spoke about the Popular Democratic Party's purchase of luxurious clothes [for him], the trips he has taken with his family, and also made reference to the second indictment related to Edwin Santana, a well-known businessman whose family has done business with all Puerto Rican administrations since the time of Luis Muñoz Marín.
"The truth is that I never intervened in a decision taken by a government agency which would benefit Santana's interests. The sad thing about this is that my attorneys submitted to prosecutors sworn statements from agency heads confirming that I never tried to influence their decision on business dealings with Santana," he maintained.
ping
Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
And I hear colorless old geezer Miguel Hernández Agosto is his campaign manager. Good luck!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.