Marisol Vicens, a lawyer and former head of the Young Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE), takes on original sin in her column in El Caribe today. In this case, she talks about the Supreme Court building and the scandal that is getting bigger every day. Vicens says that politicians and public officials have to be careful with regards to the people that come close to them, since many try to become friends in order to obtain some benefits or privileges. And, she says, there is the old saying: “Birds of a feather flock together.”
At the same time they should refuse presents they receive while they are public officials or running for office, as is observed in the Inter-American Convention against Corruption that was put out by the OAS, ratified by the Congress and is, therefore, the law of the land.
Nonetheless, it is frequently heard that high-ranking officials are receiving houses, villas, lands, cars and free airplane trips.
The arrest of Quirino Paulino Castillo last December on drug charges, was, up to then, almost an unknown entity for most of the population, but it appears that he was very close to the high spheres of power, and this has put into evidence inexcusable ties between authorities and organized crime. Vicens says that in a country as small as this one, in which nothing remains a secret for long, it is hard to believe that people that have at their disposal all of the investigative power of the state would allow persons tied to criminal activities to penetrate their circle. They were doubly mistaken, either by an error or by omission.
It is a shame that such ties have even splashed onto the majestic new Palace of Justice that will house the offices of the Attorney General and the Supreme Court. The vox populi for the last several weeks has been talking about the ties between government officials and contractors with Quirino Paulino Castillo. Popular pressure finally uncovered the scandal, and among papers, invoices and justifications of expenses that look to be exaggerated, it has come to light that part of the furnishings were seized because they were in a rice warehouse that is purported to belong to the wealthy Castillo, and later taken out of the warehouse.
That the furnishings of the Palace of Justice were overvalued or had been paid for more than once to the original contractor or to the person that substituted him, as is alleged in the newspapers, is very serious, but what is more serious is that the chairs and tables that will be used by our highest judges to mete out justice are stained by corruption and organized crime. This demands a profound, fast and responsible investigation that clears up all of the possible questions on such a shameful deed, she writes.
A government that has hardly started, writes Vicens, a feisty lawyer and business leader that butted heads with former President Hipolito Mejia on more than one occasion, has to cut out the cancerous cells that are found inside, no matter that they belong to the ruling party. In the same way, our Judicial Power cannot remain indifferent, resting on the shameful mud of corruption. If they don’t act fast, both the government and the judiciary will lose credibility. Because of this, it is indispensable that no more time is wasted in giving the explanations that are necessary and taking the decisions to assure the punishment of the actions that were committed, and so baptize the symbol of our Justice system. It doesn’t matter how many arguments are given to justify the deed, unfortunately our beautiful and modern Palace of Justice has been born marked by the original sin, which can only be cleansed by placing the guilty under the weight of the law.