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Del
Vecchio Assures Ministerio de Seguridad
Pública Is Clear Of Any Wrongdoing In
Ballestero Scandal
The ministra de Seguridad Pública, Janina
del Vecchio, exempted Oldemar Madrigal of
any blame in allowing legisaltor Mauren
Ballestero the use of Fuerza Pública
(police) aircrafts for personal use, the
Sunday before last.
The ministra said that Oldemar, a high
ranking official of the Fuerza Pública, was
not aware of the reasons and the objectives
of the flight by legislator, who is also the
vice-president of the Legislative Assembly.
Del Vecchio said she handed over her report
to the ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo
Arias, which completes removes any blame on
Oldemar.
Ballestero, after apologizing to her fellow
legislators he actions of Sunday, October
11, admitting she was wrong to ask for the
use of the aircraft for her private use,
which included picking up her passport left
behind, needing the document later that day
to travel to the US, and visiting a local
chapter of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN)
party in Liberia.
Ballestero, in tears, told the legislature
that she realizes her actions were wrong and
was willing to reimburse the state for her
mistake, though she felt the use of the
aircraft was justified.
However, an investigation reveals that
Ballestero was accustomed to using airplanes
of the Fuerza Pública to travel to Liberia
from San José and of the 28 flights she was
present, in 19 she was alone and at least 10
of those was purely for personal reasons.
Ballestero could face criminal charges by
the Minsterio Público for graft and abuse of
public resources and the Tribunal Supremo de
Elecciones (TSE) - elections tribuanal - and
the Tribunal de Ética del PLN (Liberación
party ethics committee). The Contraloría
General de la República (CGR) -
Comptroller's office - is also
investigating.
Arias asked for the detailed report from the
ministra de Seguridad.
Ministra Del Vecchio says that her ministry
is clear of any wrongdoing and has learned
an important lesson from this, saying in her
report that a manual for the use of official
airplanes by officials outside the
ministerio de Seguridad Pública.
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