Former legislative adviser Eduardo “Tito” Laureano Martínez sued former governor Wanda Vázquez last Friday for $ 5 million in which she alleges that she defamed him by linking him to the scandal of the purchase of COVID-19 tests last year.
Laureano was an adviser to former governor Ricardo Rosselló and also had consulting contracts with the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). Since March last year, the Vazquez government has been embroiled in a government scandal after authorizing the purchase of rapid testing of COVID-19 for $ 38 million from a construction company, Apex Consulting. It also transpired that these acquired evidence did not have the endorsement of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This transaction was subsequently canceled.
In his lawsuit, Laureano Martínez demanded $ 5 million in compensation for the damage caused to him by Vázquez’s public expressions. The plaintiff also requested “a public rectification by the defendant Vázquez Garced in the same magnitude and relevance as the press conference held on April 16, 2020.”
According to Laureano Martinez, at this press conference, the governor implicated the plaintiff in the failed $ 38 million transaction. During his presentation to the media, Vázquez mentioned Laureano Martínez and ordered the cancellation of all contracts he could have with the government as he assured that he wanted a “clean government”. The president, at the time, also ordered the cancellation of the contracts of Juan Maldonado and the company Apex with the government.
The figure of Laureano Martínez emerged after an exchange of text messages between Maldonado and the rector of the Medical Sciences Precinct and former director of the Task Force the governor, Segón Rodríguez, was revealed. In these messages, Maldonado wrote to Rodriguez that he got his phone number through Laureano Martinez. At that time, after being mentioned in these messages, Laureano, in an interview with Metro, disassociated himself from this transaction.
“These expressions, alluding to what was transcended by the media were and are false, malicious and slanderous. They were made without due care with the full intention of damaging the plaintiff’s reputation, without the slightest investigation and in order to discredit and tear the dignity of the plaintiff. Thus, the defendant mentions the transcendent taking as valid what the media said and does not corroborate this information, making it his own, “argued Laureano Martínez in his demand for eight pages.
“The message, of all defamatory ones, was that the government and the purchases of these Covid-19 tests were dirty and that the plaintiff, all the contracts, had to be taken away with a clear connotation that. Government canceling the plaintiff’s contracts so that it was “clean.
Laureano Martínez also stated that it is the officials linked to Vázquez’s administration who are being investigated for these events.
“What Vázquez Garced did have to know and know is that his own trusted employees and special assistants were referred to the Office of the Independent Special Prosecutor (FEI) for the possible commission of criminal acts in the purchases of the Covid-19 tests, and to this day they are under investigation.That is why we will assert that defendant Vázquez Garced was aware of the use of the Covid-19 test purchases and knew that nothing had to see the plaintiff in these circumstances, ”the legal document adds.
Laureano Martínez added that he is not a public figure and has nothing to do with the company Apex or with the purchase of these quick tests.
“The situations experienced since April 16, 2020 have marked the life of the plaintiff forever, causing serious damage to his image, name and reputation, both in the development of his business and the newspaper development of his life, so much so that from that date is perceived marked by the scandal that Vázquez Garced related it “, reads the lawsuit.
This lawsuit is the second defamation lawsuit against Vázquez for statements made against former officials or people linked to the government. In May last year, former Undersecretary of the Interior Itza Garcia also sued the former president and claims $ 5 million in damages as he alleges that she defamed him for statements made against him at a conference of press while announcing people involved in Whatsapp chat investigation.
See the demand:
Wand Vázquez is sued by Metro Puerto Rico on Scribd