Cuba Calls Story That It Sent Money to Lula’s Party in Brazil Slander

The Cuban Embassy in Brazil categorized the story that appears on the cover of this week’s edition of the news magazine Veja as "slander" and "defamation."

In an official note released on Saturday, October 29, the embassy claims that there is a "campaign of lies against Cuba and the Brazilian government." Through its embassy, the Cuba government declares that it never interfered in Brazilian domestic affairs.

In an interview with Veja, two ex-advisers to the municipal government of Ribeirão Preto during the mayoral administration of the current minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, affirmed having heard that the Cuban government sent funds for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election campaign in 2002.

One of the ex-advisers, Rogério Buratti, said he was approached by Ralf Barquete, finance secretary in Palocci’s government. According to Buratti, Barquete was looking for a way to bring US$ 3 million from Cuba.

"I know that the money arrived, but I don’t know how," Buratti affirmed, according to the magazine. Barquete died last year.

The other ex-adviser, Vladimir Poleto, stated that he had transported three cases of liquor with him on a flight from Brasí­lia to Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo. There he delivered them to Barquete, who reportedly commented that the cases contained US$ 1.4 million.

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazilian born Francileudo plays for Tunisia national team

A Brazilian City Will be Rooting for Tunisia at World Cup

In a remote corner of the Brazilian Northeast, 51,000 people are not only going ...

In New York, Lula Paints a Promising Brazil to Microsoft & Co.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met today, in New York, with around ...

Students March in Brazil Against Corruption, But Pro Lula

Five thousand students with their faces painted green and yellow, are standing in front ...

Middle East’s Index Fair Showcases 36 Brazilian Companies

Index, the largest accessory and decoration fair of the Middle East, should count on ...

Porto Murtinho, in the Brazilian Pantanal

A Crazy Lady Tries to Make Sense of Life on Brazil’s Frontier

To the uninitiated, Porto Murtinho may seem like the middle of nowhere – or ...

Brazilians, Raise Up and Swear with Me!

Dear friends, attached as a Word document is the news published in today’s (Saturday, ...

Varig’s Eleven: 11 Bidders Interested in Bankrupt Brazilian Airline

Eleven companies have shown interest in acquiring the routes, planes and offices of Brazil’s ...

Brazil Wants to Ban Mulattos and Give Blacks an ID. They Call This Progress

A stupidity cloud seems to hover over the Brazilian national Congress these days. Not ...

Caetano Veloso: Lula Hypnotized Brazil and Took It Back to the 40s

Brazilian singer composer Caetano Veloso, one of Brazil’s most exquisite poet-crooners, has called the ...

Iraq – Brazil Watches and Waits

Lula is not a hypocrite like France’s Jacques Chirac. Brazil knows it makes no ...