Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Honduras presidential appointee, Ricardo Alvarez, denied on Thursday that he had received money from the former leader of the Los CachirosDevis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, in exchange for protection to prevent him and his brother from being extradited to the United States, where they are being held.
“I categorically deny any link or receipt of money of illegal origin by Rivera quote or of any other person accused of drug trafficking or any other crime of transnational organized crime, in Honduras and / or any other country in the world, ”Álvarez said in a statement.
Álvarez, who was mayor of Tegucigalpa from 2006 to 2014, said that throughout his political career he had “had to run several election campaigns for the different positions in which I have competed”.
“Derived from the logic of parliament, I have greeted thousands of people, shook hands and talked to them, so I don’t rule out ever meeting someone who is not in good standing. Without knowing who it was,” he added.
Rivera, detained in the United States and testifying in open trial against alleged Honduran drug trafficker Geovanny Fuentes Ramírez, assured that he had bribed Álvarez with half a million dollars in exchange for protection in 2012 to prevent him and his brother from losing will be delivered. and also so that they could continue to receive contracts to proceed with money laundering.
“He pledged to annul the Honduran extradition bill to the United States,” said Rivera, who also indicated that his organization paid $ 250,000 to Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández “approximately in 2012” so that he would not be detained. and extradited to the US and be able to continue to launder drug money.
“The Cachiros Did they bribe Juan Orlando Hernández with drug money? Asked the assistant prosecutor, to which Rivera replied briefly, “Yes, sir. “