Diario Libre questions the purpose of the visit of Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez and Anti-Administrative Corruption Prosecutor Laura Guerrero Peletier to Washington, D.C. for meetings with colleague Jeff Sessions and FBI director James Comey. The newspaper speculates that during the meetings, the US authorities may have expressed concerns about the delays in the prosecution of the Odebrecht and Embraer corruption cases.
The US judiciary has obtained rulings against the Brazilian companies that were accused of providing bribes to government officials throughout Latin America that effectively prevented US businesses winning contract work in Latin America. The Dominican Republic is included among the list of Latin American countries that Odebrecht and Embraer officials had used brides to gain contracts. The accusations of local government officials accepting bribes were reported in October (Embraer) and December 2016 (Odebrecht) in US courts.
Diario Libre speculates many experts believe the US officials are concerned about the integrity of the on-going investigations in the Dominican Republic of corruption associated with Odebrecht and Embraer cases and whether justice will be served.
The newspaper’s investigation revealed that on 15 February, Rodríguez traveled to Brazil to meet with Brazilian judicial officers and there is an expectation the names of those receiving the bribes in the Dominican Republic would be soon released. The Attorney General has carried out extensive investigations into the case, but so far there have been no arrests.
Diario Libre observes that demands by local civic society and organized groups such as the Green March Movement have been gaining a following to the call for an end to impunity for government officers. The newspaper reports that there is concern that the corruption in the government will only become more entrenched, given the control of the ruling PLD party on the judiciary. The control wielded by PLD across the branches of government severely weakens the fight against of corruption. The ruling PLD political party also has absolute majorities in the lower and upper legislative chambers. The newspaper points to several examples cases in which against government officials for corruption or mismanagement of government resources have not been fully prosecuted.
Rodríguez had announced that 30 days following a meeting between the Attorney General’s Office and officials from Odebrecht, the names of those individuals who allegedly accepted bribes would be revealed.
Political analyst Guarionex Rosa of the Listin Diario, commenting on the closed door meeting of Rodríguez and Guerrero with Sessions and Comey in the United States said: “It is unusual that meetings of this kind are arranged with a ministerial level officer. He observed the Rodriguez’s remarks saying that the meeting with Sessions was “fruitful” may indicate that the information exchange was not of a routine matter. In the case of the meeting with Comey, Rodríguez said that they agreed to strengthen cooperation for more effective fighting of organized crime. “I can assure you that these visits with the US authorities were productive and very positive for our country,” Rodriguez told reporters, as reported in Listin Diario.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
8 May 2017
