Timing is everything

    It is sometimes the case that the path to truth can be found via the analysis of 'internal contradictions' (no alusion to Marx intended).  

    Just now Adolfo Kranz was speaking on the radio, noting that public officials have no moral privacy; those leaving conferences cannot proclaim silence due to the privacy of the material given that everything in their lives is public.  This is certainly a most odd proposition, given that he had been Sila Calderon's husband, and sued the television star Cobo Santa Rosa for libel. (Santa Rosa had publicly alleged he had an affair with a Dominican Republic woman.)  While the issue is petty, the fact that Krans has been calling for Acevedo Vila's renunciation to his gubernatorial candidacy sheds light on the many contradictions which Acevedo Vila's oppositors hold. 

    Some have asked, "why is the FBI guilty of political persecution now, and not when charges were filed against many of Pedro Rossello's affiliates?"  Excellent question.

    As a public citizen who is not involved in the affairs of state, nor in Acevedo Vila's administration, I simply do not know whether a crime was committed.  "Crimes" are often legalistic definitions and the juridical interpretation of these; being neither a lawyer nor a judge I cannot say for certain whether in fact Acevedo Vila committed a 'no-no' in the realm of politics.  He may or he may have not; that is for the court to decide.  Reading the indictment, as the PNP often asks citizens, is not fool-proof evidence of culpability, given that 'evidence' is not 'proven' at face value.  Strictly speaking, culpability rests in the legal contextualization of these allegations.

    What I do know, however, is that many of those who have consistently called for Acevedo Vila's resignation are full of blatant contradictions like our neighbor Kranz, which throw a great deal of suspicion as to the genuine legitimacy and integrity of the FBI's formal charges.   This is particularly the case with regard to the timing of the FBI's activities. 

    When it is suggested that, as senator, he had tried to block the nomination of Rosa Emilia Rodríguez--therefore explaining her own personal motivation, it is countered that the investigation began prior to her coming to office, that she was merely continuing process which had already been initiated prior to her entry.  It is sometimes argued that the FBI's actions are exonerated because they began as far back as the year 2000 or so when Acevedo Vila ran for resident commissioner-which seems somewhat of an exaggeration, but will be accepted at face value.

    The question which immediately arises, however, is:  if the investigation was initiated so long ago, then why were the accusations made only eight months prior to the election?   With that much time, there would have been enough evidence collected to file charges BEFORE the PPD primaries were carried out.   In fact, this is where the contradictions of Acevedo Vila's oppositors emerge.  The further back the initiation of the investigation is pushed in order to legitimize the 'impersonal integrity', the greater the doubt is raised given the greater the time available to file the charges prior to the disruption of Puerto Rico's internal political process.  Political tact means that the accusations would have filed long before the PPD primaries were held.

    The FBI cannot pretend, like Manuel Diaz Saldaña, to be beholden to a 'blind morality' and completely ignore the political context of colonialism that taint its actions in the island.  In fact, had Saldaña truly been faithful to his own personal integrity, he would have initiated investigations into his own political party and, (given the pervasiveness of corruption)  have sought the prosecution of Pedro Rossello.   That he did not raises more questions than answers.   Similarly, the FBI cannot be blind to the colonial context, and the imposition over political leadership in the island's history during the first half of the twentieth century when all of its governors where hand picked by the US president.

    It is more than a faux-pas.  It is a blatant abuse of power.