Call for probe into Oderbrecht and CD party links
THE HEAT is turning up on Panamanian prosecutors who have been slow to react to Brazilian requests for assistance into the massive corruption scandal which threatens to bring down the government of the country that will soon host the Olympic Games.
Panama Political and civic groups have urged prosecutors to open an inquiry into allegations that the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht made political donations to the ruling CD party in the 2014 election.
Brazilian political strategist João Santana has admitted to prosecutors that he was paid by Odebrecht to work on several campaigns, though he denied knowing where the money came from to pay his salary when he worked in Panama for CD candidate José Domingo Arias.
Odebrecht has won over $8 billion in contracts from Panama from three administrations, including the current one, which has awarded contracts for Metro Line 2, and a major development project in Colon, although observers were raising red flagswhen the president of Odebrecht and other senior figures were arrested and jailed in Brazil.
PRD Secretary General Carlos Pérez Herrera said that inquiries need to be made into these payments and whether the firm made other donations reports La Prensa.
“It is worthwhile to investigate these statements, it deserves an investigation,” he said.
He said that the current government has continued to give contracts to Odebrecht despite the company’s link to corruption probes in other countries.
Panameñista Deputy Luis Eduardo Quirós pointed out that the investigations being carried out in Brazil could help Panamanian authorities determine if there were any irregularities in the Arias campaign.
CD Deputy José Muñoz, who was part of the Arias campaign team, said he was not connected to any of the financial matters.
“I was determining where to deliver the candidate,” he said. “Financial issues did not correspond to me,” he told La Prensa.
Arias has refused to speak on the matter.
