For a map, click here. To read previous exclusive Rantburg reports on the Moreira debt scandal, click here, here and here
By Chris Covert
The leader of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) suffered another political setback as the new Mexican Minsiter of Finance filed a second complaint in Coahuila's state debt scandal Wednesday, according to Mexican news accounts.
And in a late related development, Coahuila state and bank negotiations are expected to be concluded Friday with a total of MP $26 billion (USD $189,987,720.00)in short term financing, according to the online news website Animal Politico.
If the article is accurate, the Coahuila Chamber of Deputies voted Thursday to pledge 100 percent of the Coahuila state payroll tax as collateral in exchange for short term financing.
The new deal will likely mean deep cuts in Coahuila state government spending especially in income supports, and possibly in security.
Jose Antonio Meade, newly appointed Finance minister through the Procuraduria Fiscal de la Federacion (PFF) filed a complaint with the national attorney general's office Wednesday against unspecified individuals involved in the alleged falsification of online documents and "irregularities" in the contracting of new debt.
At the center of the controversy is Humberto Moreira, who served as governor of Coahuila from 2007 to 2010,when he was elected as leader of the PRI.
Moreira is said to have increased the debt load of Coahuila state from MP $233 million (USD $25,934,832.80) to MP $32 billion (USD $256,939,520.00) during his three year term.
| Moreira came into his current job as a populist, an image he has carefully crafted, and as it turned out, funded through the massive expansion of state contracted debt during his term. |
Moreira has so far resisted those calls, and has even fought back.
Two weeks ago an article appeared in the local section of El Diario de Coahuila, a Saltillo, Coahula based daily which described several ordinary citizens who benefited from the massive expansion of income support programs funded by the state.
In an ironic twist of fate, Humbero's brother, Ruben Moreira, who won a slamming landslide victory last summer to finish out Humberto's term, has been in discussions with the state Chamber of Deputies to cut several of those income support programs, as negotiations continue with at least 14 banks in Coahuila and nationwide for short term financing of the coupon for Coahuila's state debt.
Moreira came into his current job as a populist, an image he has carefully crafted, and as it turned out, funded through the massive expansion of state contracted debt during his term.
The second filing Tuesday follows an original request by former finance minister Ernesto Cordero, who filed his complaint earlier this month just days before stepping down to run for president in 2012 under the PAN banner.
In that complaint, the allegations are of fraud, specifically in the public posting of online documents stating the size of debt held by the state. The allegations are not directed at anyone specifically, except the one individual responsible for those document, Javier Villareal, who was head of Coahuila's Sistema de Administraci"n Tributaria (SAT), or tax commission.
Under Mexican national law , Mexican states must keep up to date records accurately reflecting the financial state of the state, specifically on online documents. Villareal has maintained that the problem with the online documents at issue is merely a technical one, specifically in dating the documents.
Reports state that Villareal failed to do that and in fact understated the debt Coahuila has contracted.
Other charges have been made publicly, though not officially that political supporters of Moreira may have benefited from financial dealings with Coahuila state, although no specific nexus has been made.