Varela rift with campaign support group

THE INDEPENDENT civil group (Movin) that backed Juan Carlos Varela during his run for the presidency has reacted strongly to complaints from cabinet ministers about its  criticisms of  the government’s actions in the Odebrecht scandal.

“We will continue to demand an ethical example from those who lead the country” wrote Movin in reply to a note in which 12 ministers of state complained that the civil group’s  criticism was “Out of focus and unfair.”

“The members of Movin are not in this to applaud or  be applauded,” said the reply.

On Thursday, Jan 19, The group posted  a message on social media: “Our mission is to strengthen institutionality, transparency and citizen participation, and we will continue to call for  ethical leadership for  the country in the face of questions raised  in our open letter, without  being distracted with sterile discussions that do not contribute to resolving national problems”

Earlier, the ministers  had circulated a communiqué urging Movin to reflect on “its unfocused position of the national reality “.

“It is public that Movin was one of several independent groups that endorsed the candidacy

Of the current president [Juan Carlos] Varela, so it is strange that you try to take advantage of a judicial issue giving it a political twist , “said the ministers.

The differences between the ministers and Movin arose  after the group released an open letter to Varela, in which they accuse their government of not protecting the interests of the State over its principal  contractor  Odebrecht.

In the  open letter, Movin recounted the attention calls that it made to the government since February 2015 on the risks of awarding multi-million dollar  to Odebrecht.

In June of that same year, Marcelo Odebrecht, president of the construction company, was imprisoned and later sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for corruption.

Since then, the Varela administration hired Odebrecht to carry out the renovation project

Of Colón (at a cost of $569 million) and the second line of the Metro (for $1,857 billion among others.

Varela has reiterated his confidence in the investigations carried out by the Public Ministry,

But he has avoided answering whether three members of his Cabinet will be listed as

complainants as called for by the Administration Prosecutor.