Former legislative adviser Eduardo “Tito” Laureano Martínez last Friday sued former governor Wanda Vázquez for $ 5 million for defaming him by linking him to the COVID-19 testing scandal last year.
Laureano was an advisor to former Governor Ricardo Rosselló and also had consulting contracts with the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Medical Sciences Campus. Since March last year, the Vázquez government has been embroiled in a government scandal after authorizing the purchase of COVID-19 rapid tests for $ 38 million from a construction company, Apex Consulting. Likewise, it was found that said acquired tests did not have the approval of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English). This transaction was later canceled.
In his lawsuit, Laureano Martínez claimed damages of $ 5 million for damages caused by Vázquez’s public statements. The prosecution also called for “a public rectification by Defendant Vázquez Garced to the same extent and relevance as the press conference held on April 16, 2020”.
According to Laureano Martínez, the governor implicated the plaintiff in the failed $ 38 million transaction during the press conference. During his presentation to the media, Vázquez mentioned Laureano Martínez and ordered the cancellation of any contracts he might have with the government, assuring that he wanted a “clean government.” The president also ordered the cancellation of Juan Maldonado’s and Apex company’s contracts with the government at the time.
The figure of Laureano Martínez emerged after an exchange of text messages between Maldonado and the Rector of the Medical Sciences Campus and the former Task Force Director, Governor, Segundo Rodríguez, was revealed. In these messages, Maldonado wrote to Rodríguez that he had obtained his phone number through Laureano Martínez. At that point, after being mentioned in these posts, Laureano pulled out of the said transaction in an interview with Metro.
Said statements, referring to what was transcended by the media, were and are false, malicious and defamatory. They were made without due care with the full intention of harming the reputation of the plaintiff, without the minimum of investigation and to discredit and tear up the dignity of the prosecution. So much so that the defendant calls the transcendent view as valid what the media said and does not corroborate this information, making it his own, “argued Laureano Martínez in his eight-page trial. .
The message, clearly defamatory, was that the government and the purchases of these Covid-19 tests were dirty and that all of the plaintiff’s contracts should be taken over, with the clear connotation that the government should be cleaned up by canceling the contracts. of the plaintiff to be “clean.” Expression that affects the dignity of the plaintiff, ”the lawsuit reads.
Likewise, Laureano Martínez stated that it is the officials associated with the Vázquez government who are under investigation for said events.
What Vázquez Garced should have known and should have known is that his own trusted employees and special assistants were referred to the Office of the Independent Special Prosecutor (FEI) for possible criminal acts in the purchase of Covid-19 tests, and as of today they are under investigation. It is for this reason that we claim that Defendant Vázquez Garced had knowledge of the handling of the Covid-19 test purchases and knew that the plaintiff had nothing to do with such circumstances, “he adds. .
Laureano Martínez added that he is not a public figure and has no relationship whatsoever with the Apex company or the purchase of these rapid tests.
“ The situations that occurred on April 16, 2020 marked the plaintiff’s life forever and caused serious damage to his image, name and reputation, both in the development of his business and in the day-to-day unfolding of his life, so much so that since that date he has been seen as scarred by the scandal that Vázquez Garced related to him, ”the lawsuit reads.
This lawsuit is the second defamation claim Vázquez faces for statements made against former officials or people associated with the government. In May last year, former government undersecretary Itza García also sued the former president and demanded $ 5 million in damages, alleging that she defamed her for making statements against her at a press conference while announcing the people involved in the WhatsApp. chat research.
See the lawsuit:
They sue Wanda Vázquez via Metro Puerto Rico on Scribd