The humiliation of a talented prosecutor

How strong is a group? It is like the weakest of its members. Between attorneys Eduardo Ulloa and Javier Caraballo, the strategy of “Richeliu” and his cronies has been successful. The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has been scrapped and its prosecutors sent to the four winds in Timbuktu.

Ulloa, in the exercise of his position, proved to be a weakling who should never, never have reached that position, but he completed phase one, and Caraballo, phase two of the dismantling. Special anti-corruption prosecutors have been transferred, sent on vacation, or both. Caraballo has just sent prosecutor Tania Sterling to Colón, where he himself suffered exile from the Public Ministry. The transfer is the polite way to kick the prosecutor who put together much of the Odebrecht case, as she did with the others.

And it is better to explain to Mr. Caraballo, because it is possible that he cannot understand that, in addition to kicking his colleague, he has humiliated her, as has each of the members of the original team of this prosecution who has not done anything other than their dutyy her thing to do your duty. The team has been weakened – with his enthusiastic consent – to the point that it is now a house of cards that falters when the king of bullying snorts on social networks.

What a difference from US prosecutors! There they look for the big fish; here they are afraid of him or they are part of his payroll. There they press for the truth to come to the surface; here they put ballast so that it sinks. There they install Muhammad Ali to do the work; here they look for Peter Buckles to make sure there will be no work.

And when one reads the conclusions of Anilú Batista – appointed by Ulloa as a special anti-corruption prosecutor – in the case of the modular hospital, one wonders if this is the strongest link in the group. And I quote Batista: “All the elements of conviction gathered and analyzed as a whole completely rule out the thesis of the existence of the punishable act of fraud in public contracting since there is no indication of opacity in the incorporation of the proposals made by competitors to the Ministry of Public Works…”

Fortunately, the Odebrecht tax hearing was prepared by Sterling, because, otherwise, we would be reading that same paragraph at the end of the tax hearing, with a request to file the process. I wonder what actions FATF will take if there are no convicts in this case. Take us off their lists? Reward ourselves for the depth of a long investigation that led to nothing?

Before concluding, I can’t help but think that the attorney has the power to relocate his staff. But only him? I see more than one hand cutting that cake from the Special Prosecutor’s Office. And not precisely that of Caraballo. It is not necessary to consult Madame Kalalú to know “whose evil shadow it is”. But do not forget, Mr. Caraballo and company, that we all know – yes – “who is the one who laughs in English”

Rolando Rodriguez B. – La Prensa.