Agência Brasil

Brasília - The president of the PT, deputy Ricardo Berzoini (SP), described as "baseless" the accusation published in the cover story of the weekly newsmagazine, Veja. According to the magazine, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election campaign received US$ 3 million from Cuba in August-September, 2002.

"There is no way a party like the PT would run such a risk, since it would be violating the law and lose its registration. The Federal Constitution is clear when it comes to the loss of party registration. Receiving foreign funds is one of the grounds for this," Berzoini affirmed.

He also said that he is serene about the possibility that the lawyer Rogério Tadeu Buratti will be summoned by the CPI (Parliamentary Investigative Commission) on Bingo Parlors to testify on this matter. According to the magazine, Buratti and Vladimir Poleto, both former advisers to the current minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, when Palocci was mayor of Ribeirão Preto (SP), claimed to have heard that the Cuban government sent money for Lula's presidential campaign in 2002.

"The CPI has the right to investigate. If the convocation occurs, we shall follow it closely to prevent the illegal acts that some [legislators] have committed, such as summoning people who nothing to do with the focus of the investigations. We shall accompany it with serenity, because we have nothing to hide," the president of the PT declared.

Translation: David Silberstein