Empty? (Via markhillary.)
Is Alfonso Portillo healthy or sick? No one knows yet, though we were supposed to find out yesterday. It’s now been three days since the ex-Guatemalan president accused of embezzlement and money laundering ditched a maximum-security prison for a military hospital with conflicting reports as to why.
El Periódico says today that it got hold of two reports from two different doctors that say two completely different things. The one from a National Forensic Science Institute doctor says the ex-prez is in perfect health. The one from the doctor hired by the defense says he suffers from a racing heart, chest pains, and high blood pressure. Doctors from the military hospital itself haven’t released any official statements.
Prensa Libre, meanwhile, is reporting that the hospital denied a public prosecutor’s request to do a medical examination of Portillo. The article also says the U.S. has until March 29 to formalize a request for extradition.
Central American leaders have a history of receiving special treatment upon entery to the penal system. Nicaragua’s Arnoldo Aleman served most of his prison term for robbing the Nicaraguan state of about $100 million in house arrest, due to health reasons. Also, arrested former Costa Rican presidents Rodríguez and Calderón spent their “preventative detention” in the comfort of their own homes, rather than prison.
One can only imagine the strings Portillo might be pulling.
Related posts:
The Nation has a long, wonky, wonderful article on Mexican maize cultivation, the effects of NAFTA, and the dangers of genetically-modified seeds. Author Peter Canby backs up his excellent writing with piles and piles of meticulous research. Not to be missed. [
Hitmen have assassinated the PRI candidate for governor of Tamaulipas State, Rodolfo Torre Cantú. Torre was gunned down along with six others at about 10:30 this morning on a highway on the way to a campaign event. Drug mafias are assumed to be responsible. [
One Trackback
[...] were not serious enough to merit hospitalization. During his stay in the military hospital, it was never clear why exactly he had been transferred there. The United States has officially requested Portillo’s extradition to try him on charges of [...]