The PEME case is back in the headlines. The case that involves high-ranking officials of the first administration of Leonel Fernandez (PEME = a Program to Make Work) has been in the courts since 2000. Stated in the briefest of terms, the PEME program was designed to de-activate community activists, known for organizing strikes and community violence, by paying them money.
The case presents the current government with an ethical and political dilemma. The case brings the Fernandez administration face to face with its professed policy of fighting governmental corruption. The sticky point is the fact that rumors have started to circulate that the government could withdraw its civil suit against the accused and reinforcing the growing perception the government is unwilling to face corruption.
The tentative legal procedure appears to be seated in the process against former President Salvador Jorge Blanco who was found to be not guilty on appeal of embezzling millions together with his Minister of the Armed Forces and other close associates. A lower court had found the President to be guilty of all counts and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. The new verdict came only after the government had withdrawn the civil charges against Jorge Blanco. In the same manner as the Jorge Blanco defense team argued, the defense of the PLD officials is claiming political persecution and mud-slinging in order to tarnish their reputations and eliminate these officials from becoming candidates in future elections.
The case is all the more difficult for the government because many of its current ministers and administrators are among the accused. Among the accused are today Metro Minister Diandino Pena, Luis Ynchausti, a member of the Central Committee of the PLD, Haivanjoe Ng Contreras, the Accountant General of the 1996-2000 administration and a member of the Central Committee, and Simon Lizardo, a former Presidential Minister and member of the PLD Central Committee.