A Colombian oil company is embroiled in a scandal in Costa Rica after reports that an alleged associate of the defunct Norte del Valle cartel mediated the lending of a company air plane to President Laura Chinchilla.
According to reports, Bogota-based oil company THX Energy lent Chinchilla a private jet for official visits to Venezuela and Peru. The lending of the airplane reportedly was arranged between Gabriel Rocardo Morales, a Colombian-born Nicaraguan citizen with alleged ties to former Norte del Valle Cartel leader Juan Carlos Ramirez, alias “Chupeta.”
The scandal forced the resignation of Chinchilla’s press secretary, who said Morales identified himself with a false name.
In a press release, the Costa-Rican president said her press chief had been the victim of “deceit” by a “representative of the company THX Energy.”
The Colombian company also sent out a press release, saying they lent the airplane directly to the Costa-Rican President’s Office.
“The only shareholder of THX Energy is the Canadian enterprise Birch Island Capital and that in its board of directors, legal representation, payroll employees, sales representatives or delegates there exists no Mr. Gabriel Ricardo Morales Fallon,” THX said.
Sources
- Profunda preocupación e indignación, generan en la Presidenta de la República los hechos recién acontecidos (Costa Rica President’s Office)
- Costa Rica spokesman resigns amid Chinchilla flight scandal (Reuters)
- Comunicado de prensa de THX Energy Bogotá 16 de mayo de 2013 (THX Energy)