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Mexican political operatives caught with USD $1.9 million
 For a map click here By Chris Covert Two Veracruz state Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) political operatives were caught with MP $25 million (USD $1.9 million) in cash stuffed in two suitcases at the airport at Toluca in Mexico state following a flight from Veracruz city last Friday, according to Mexican news reports. In a related report, a Veracruz state top cabinet minister resigned his post, possibly as a result of Friday's incident. Mexican Policia Federal (PF) agents arrested Miguel Morales Robles, an employee for Veracruz governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa, and seized the cash -- all in Mexican pesos -- taking the money to a local PF office in Toluca. Governor Duarte is a member of PRI and was elected to office in 2010. Reports say after a brief exchange of messages between the Procuradoria General de la Republica (PGR), or national attorney general and the office of Governor Duarte, the money was returned. The reports were later retracted. Morales Robles had on his person a letter explaining the cash he carried was official money. The money was reportedly "transportation money", which explained its presence but not how it was gathered or how it was to be used. The two operatives, the other identified as Said Sandoval Zepeda, were travelling aboard a Veracruz state official aircraft. The aircraft was a Beech B200 King Air as identified by the registration marking and an aircraft database. Sandoval Zepeda has been identified as a member of Governor Duarte's personal security detail. A later explanation by the governor's office was that the money was to be paid to a private company in Mexico state, Industria 3, SA de C.V. for its participation in three upcoming events in Veracruz city. In Mexico, it is not against the law for government officials to carry large amounts of cash. It is not, however, common practice for officials to do so. As of the moment of publication a PGR spokesman was quoted as saying the origin of the cash is still under investigation. Despite reports in the Mexican press that the money was returned, as of 1632 hrs Monday on the website of El Diario de Coahuila, an unidentified PGR spokesmen said the money would not be returned until its origin could be proved. In a reported internet radio interview, Veracruz state government spokesman Gina DomÃnguez told Formato 21 the cash was transported because an upcoming holiday made such as large transaction difficult. The implication is that Mexicans routinely get large draws on their accounts in cash for holidays and the state would be trying to compete for service with everyone else. Later Monday Tomas Ruiz, Secretario de Finanzas de Veracruz, gave a broad outline for the cash outlays, mostly for artists and promotion materials. However at 1836 hours Monday, a post at Animal Politico stated that Secretaria de Finanzas y Planeacion del Gobierno de Veracruz, the Veracruz treasurer's office, Vicente BenÃtez Gonzalez had abruptly resigned after only serving 14 months. In the news release Benitez Gonzalez thanked Governor Duarte for the opportunity to have served in Duarte's administration. However, two Veracruz state politicans, Veracruz Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) senator Juan Bueno Torio and chair for the Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) Steering Committee unleashed charges that money was in fact intended to go to PRI presidential frontrunner Enrique Pena Nieto to finance his campaign, still in the primary stage of the national electoral process. Mexico state, where the bust took place, is Pena Nieto's home state and as governor his last government post. The charge is an oft repeated one levelled against former PRI leader Humberto Moreira Valdes and former Coahuila governor after Moreira had run up the heaviest per capita debt load of any state in Mexico during his tenure. As for specifics for the charge of diverting public money to electoral campaigns, none actually exists, except that the confluence of events that led to Moreira's resignation looks terrible. The potential of malfeasence that led to Moreira's abrupt resignation apparently still exists and now, less than two months later, a potential political firestorm surrounding large sums of cash and where it goes, revives those charges,this time in stark bas relief to the upcoming election. To read Rantburg reports on the Humberto Moreira debt scandal in Coahuila and Moreria's subsequent resignation, click here and here and follow the links As a related matter and for what it is worth, officially PAN president Gustavo Madero, the man who kept pressure on Moreira to resign has not publicly commented. However this writer could haver sworn that Madero did repeat the charge that the cash was intended for Pena Nieto, which was published on Animal Politico, but later removed. However, in a Twitter post earlier on Monday, Madero asked, "Who do you think the PRI governor sends 25 million cash?" Madero also posted a late, mischievous tweet calling the resignation of Benitez Gonzalez as being Moreira-ized. Posted by: badanov 2012-01-31 |
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