OPINION: Tarnished revolving door appointment

The new vice minister of the Presidency was presented as a dedicated public servant who would bring more transparency to the questioned office. The third vice-ministerial occupant, in less than a year, is an old acquaintance of the ruling party and in his recent past had very close ties to a member of circle zero of a controversial previous government. In an interview conducted by this newspaper, the official confessed not remembering that he signed the bank account of a company that was subsequently investigated by the Comptroller General of the Republic while he was its general secretary.

The obvious conflict of interest did not seem an ethical problem to the current vice-minister. Maybe, a journalistic investigation carried out with the great limitations existing at present could only reach a part of the official’s professional past. However, those who made his new position possible must understand that the country is not for conflicts of interest or opaque actions of the State. Transparency is tarnished when custodians have a questionable ethical record and take their obligations lightly –LA  PRENSA, May 6