President Hip?lito Mej?a participated yesterday in the ?Gobierno de la Ma?ana? (The Morning Government) radio talk-show, where he announced he would remove his suit for supposed defamation against commentator Julio Martinez Pozo. On 3 February, President Mej?a had called the program demanding to speak to Martinez Pozo, shortly after the latter had commented that a high-ranking member of the staff at the Presidential Palace had bought an armored SUV valued at US$150,000, and cleared it through customs in an illegal manner. The President demanded to know the source of his information and threatened to take Martinez to jail. The President?s unprecedented call benefited the show, and its ratings have since climbed. On the downside, it contributed to a chilling effect among the press in general, who are not anxious to be found in a confrontation with the President.
During his visit to the station, the President reconciled with Martinez Pozo, who stated that he had no documentation to substantiate the claim of the irregular import. Mej?a also used the time to announce that the government would continue to depend on foreign loans to finance construction of infrastructure, saying that 80% of the national budget is used for current government expenditures. Mej?a feels that it is important to resolve the pressing problems of the communities, such as the need for aqueducts, reported Hoy newspaper.
Hoy newspaper publishes today a letter Elena Viyella de Paliza, the president of the National Business Council (CONEP), addresses to the president of the Senate on governmental borrowing precisely for the construction of aqueducts. She speaks out against the approval of a Canadian loan for the construction of a major aqueduct in the Southwest, saying that it had been significantly padded and would affect local producers who could have supplied the pipes for this and other aqueducts, such as the one under construction to supply towns in the Northwest.