This is a profile, but it is taken. He is taken by frustration and disappointment. And he is also taken by a recent oncological diagnosis that forces him to say “I thought I had stayed away, but obviously I have failed.” The clinical data, related to the judicial history of Alberto Pascó Font, is relevant precisely because of the terrible justice that is being administered in our country, where the processes are not only long and tortuous but also lacerating and unfair, like several that have been reported regarding Lava Jato case. “Do what you want with this information,” he tells me, clearly upset, and continues: “I don’t want to cause grief and I don’t want to victimize myself. “I just want justice to be done.”
Possibly, Pascó Font is one of the best specialists that Peru has in terms of investment and infrastructure. He has had an impeccable career that began since his arrival in Lima at the age of four, from Talara. He was always the chancón of the class, at school, at the university and during his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. At the Inmaculada, the Jesuits, he says, “instill a commitment to society to contribute,” and with that he gives meaning to his return to Peru in the early 90s after studying in the United States. “The country has become richer and improved and I have collaborated with that, but the payment is very bad and so is the message that is being sent. “I did not enter the State to investigate Toledo’s life, to find out if he was doing dirty tricks or not, and, as I tell you, I am convinced that there was nothing wrong with Proinversión.”
Today, at 60 years old, Pascó Font dedicates himself practically full time to proving his innocence: “If you talk to me about indignation, the justice system outrages me with Jose Domingo Perez and with the judges who have been beaten in the evidence. “I would expect a prosecutor to seek the truth, but by convicting Toledo he doesn’t care about convicting innocent people,” he says.
During the IIRSA Sur concession, did you have suspicions of any mismanagement?
No. Our daily life was the interaction with the bidders, which was completely formal, through letters and to everyone equally. At that time, in addition, Odebrecht was one of the most prestigious and Toledo He said that he wanted it to be his legacy and the population wanted the work. It was difficult at that moment to realize that there, in particular, something was happening.
And today, knowing what happened, do you see that there were groups influencing and pressuring?
No. In the Interoceanic case, 11 departments were involved, a law was passed by Congress declaring it a national priority, including subsequent laws that indicated that everything was well done. In fact, this investigation is illegal, because there is a law in force that declares that what was done was right. And yes, there was pressure not only from the Executive but from other groups, but it was investigated and filed saying that there was nothing irregular.
And Toledo?
I still think that what Toledo did was speed up the process, but when Barata says in his statement that the bases are rubbish, he means that no one changed the bases, as they agreed, and Toledo told him—later we found out— forget about these, we do it through addenda.
But what do you think of Alejandro Toledo?
It makes me very sad, because I believe that he had the historic opportunity to be a Mandela, that today we remember him for a good government, but apparently in the end the economic thing took precedence and he became corrupted, throwing away what could have been an important legacy. . On the one hand, it was a great lost opportunity that would have been very positive for the country, but it is also a great scammer, a great liar, who offered what he did not have to Odebrecht, so much so that the others felt cheated and They lowered the bribe from 35 to 20.
And about José Domingo Pérez (JDP) and the justice system?
The accusation against me is very easy and Judge Carhuancho himself asked JDP to clarify it, telling him that collusion is a crime of encounter between people, which did not occur. And yet, he responds that I colluded with the 5 owners or bosses of the companies that made up the consortium. I am convinced that JDP knows that we are innocent—both Sergio Bravo and I—because he is not stupid.
What do you think moves him then?
It’s definitely not me. It is the prestige of having put a president like Toledo in jail for being corrupt, even though what Toledo has done has already expired, at least in that part. And my indicator is that he has never asked the witnesses and collaborators if they have colluded with me. Either he is negligent or he knows the result, and I believe that they are petty personal interests that take precedence over the truth.
That in the Public Ministry, but the Judicial Branch?
Also. The Judiciary, in the first instance, the judges have not had the courage to say that there are innocent people here, because that would have been a waste of time by giving Toledo only 11 years in prison.
It is a suspended prison, with an impediment to leaving the country?
There are people who believe that it has gone well for me, because normally those in the first instance agree with the Prosecutor’s Office. The issue is that this is not over and although I am innocent and one puts hope in the system, nothing works because the case is politicized and they are using us in order to imprison Toledo.
DATA
After studying in the US, Pascó Font worked at Grade as a researcher for almost a decade. Then they invited him to work in the State. For more than 10 years he was at Ositrán and Copri, which later became Proinversión.
For 7 years he has been under investigation for having awarded the Interoceánica Sur, and despite having presented evidence contrary to the fiscal hypothesis that surrounds him, along with Sergio Bravo, these have not been included in the sentence of 9 years of suspended prison that was has ruled against both in the first instance.
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