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A Letter From Enrique?
Following is a re-print of the letter received by insidecostarica.com on January 21, 2004.

We have tried to authenticate the the true writer of the letter, requesting that the writer provides with unequivocal proof that he is in fact Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho.

We waited several days for a reply before publishing the letter. We received a response, coming from the same email, that we should contact what we believe to be Enrique's lawyers in Costa Rica, who are supposedly in possession of the original letter. Our attempts to contact the lawyer were unsuccessful.

The letter is exactly as we received it:

Dear Mr. Cacciatore,

With growing concern I have read articles you have recently published, which are supposedly opinion pieces. These articles have all but called for the public lynching of my brothers, who have nothing to do with my debts.
Opinion or not, this kind of publication is uncalled for and, if you bothered to think about it, actually dangerous. Understand that as a result, if harm comes to any member of my family, you will be responsible. It is my hope that you will refrain from further contributions to ill will being incorrectly and dangerously directed at my family. When conditions allow me to resume taking care of my financial obligations in the manner to which my creditors are accustomed, you will have much work to do to erase the damage you have done.

However, also during this time, many have clamored for communication from me. If you are willing, the one below may be of interest to your readers. Thank you in advance for your time.

Eighteen months have passed, nearly two years, since my brother, my family and I became objects of one of the greatest judicial and police runnings-over to ever happen in this country, which has prejudiced us for life and produced severe damages to our patrimony and that of hundreds of creditors who with confidence loaned me their monies and to whom I paid punctually their capital and interest, honoring my word.

At the end of nearly two years, there is still no formal accusation by the Attorney General’s office, while all the effects of the running-over are still being produced and are deepening.

I am absolutely sure, because I know who I am and I know the values I defend and because I believe deeply in God, Who has given me of His immense strength, that we will emerge well free of this bitter episode, behind which spurious interests are hidden.

I come once again to reaffirm to my creditors that I firmly maintain the will to pay my debts, in the moment that conditions so permit. This in spite of the stories and threats against my brother and family members, all unjust, which are woven including on the internet, this last medium in which rumors, lies and fantastic novels are constantly fabricated.

Those who irresponsibly treat me as a perpetrator of fraud are quite mistaken because you, my creditors, are the best witnesses that I have never been that, nor will I ever be.

If until today I have been unable to pay, it has not been because I lack the desire to do so, rather because I haven’t been able to, nor have they let me do so, since the police and the courts have immobilized my resources, denigrated my honor in the national and international banking systems, and have made me enter into an involuntary cessation of payments.

I understand that in a State of Law we are all subject to investigation by competent authorities, but this does not authorize anyone to fabricate stereotypes, nor spectacles before the press, nor to stamp us with light and capricious qualifiers as some have irresponsibly endorsed us, and who will be evidenced as false before the Justice Tribunals.

To all those who have offended and denigrated us without knowing us, to those who have been behind this malintentioned conspiracy, to those who motivated my leaving the country in the face of threats received, to those who have lent themselves to do us damage in the deepest part of our beings, to all I say, that I have repeatedly asked God that He give me the wisdom of forgiveness.

I thank all the creditors who have demonstrated their solidarity and who continue with confidence in me, with or without lawyers, because they know I never failed them, those who know my case is not comparable to others, and that, far from twisting things around, give me the opportunity to reiterate my will to pay my debts when conditions so permit.

I make clear in closing that the only one able to cancel and negotiate the payment of debts I maintain with my creditors is me and no one else, since I was the person who received the loans, therefore I am the only one legally and morally responsible for the payment of the debts when circumstances so determine. My creditors know that in the past they never needed an attorney for me to pay them.

With confidence in God and faith in the truth and justice, Psalm 70

Luis Enrique Villalobos

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