Vice President Casas
Will Not Participate in
"Si" Campaign
Second vice-president of
Costa Rica, Kevin Casas,
announced yesterday his
decision to leave the "Si"
campaign on the TLC to
avoid more reactions to
a memorandum with
controversial proposals
that was sent to
president Óscar Arias .
"The most convenient is
for me abstain from
participating and
referring to the
process. That is what i
told the president in a
letter", said Casas last
night.
Casas said he would not
resign his post as
ministro de
Planificación though he
will keep his distance
from the post while an
internal audit
investigates if public
funds were used for the
"Si" campaign.
The investigation was
initiated by the
Tribunal Supremo de
Elecciones (TSE), that
also censured the
memorandum.
The referendum on the
Tratado de Libre
Comercio (TLC) - free
trade agreement with the
United States - is on
October 7.
Casas offered his
apologies yesterday and
said he regretted making
the suggestions to the
president, which
included denying funds
to municipal mayors that
do not work for the "Si"
and to search out any
ties to the "No"
campaign with the
presidents of Cuba,
Venezuela and Nicaragua.
The co-author of the
controversial
memorandum, Fernando
Sánchez, also offered
his public apology. The
legislator said he will
consider resigning the
chairmanship of two
legislative committees.
Both Casas and Sánchez
have supported the TLC
publicly.
|
|
