San Jose, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila faces criminal charges relating to the financing of past election campaigns, in a revelation Thursday that raised tensions on the Caribbean island and prompted cross-party calls for calm. The US Department of Justice unveiled a 27-count indictment against Acevedo Vila and 12 accused accomplices based in Puerto Rico, Washington and Philadelphia.
According to the charges, Acevedo Vila accepted illegal and unreported campaign contributions during his 2004 campaign for governor and during two previous elections for the post of Puerto Rico's representative to the US Congress.
The charges took residents of the Caribbean island by surprise and prompted appeals even from opposition leaders for restraint and calm among the population.
Acevedo Vila on Thursday maintained that he and his 12 co- defendants were innocent of the charges. He accused US authorities of overstepping their jurisdiction and playing politics in an election year.
"This action, which was politically motivated, is the result of three years of infiltrations, rumours and speculation designed to do me damage," he said in a statement. "I will defend my rights and protect the dignity of my family and the people of Puerto Rico who support me."
The governor's lawyer, Thomas Green, called the indictment by US authorities "without precedent and unmerited" given the island's largely independent status.
Puerto Rico is a self-governing commonwealth of the United States. The island's representative in Congress has no voting rights.
Acevedo Vila is also accused of defrauding the Puerto Rican government of 7 million dollars by accepting public money for his campaign, which would have required a cap on spending and the full disclosure of all his contributions.
Instead, he solicited unreported donations from Puerto Rican business people to "raise and spend far more than the limited amount to which they had agreed," the Justice Department said.
