Marcela Rebelo and Luciana Vasconcelos
Reporters - Agência Brasil

Brasília - "There was no money from Cuba in president Lula's campaign," the minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci, told the senators on the Parliamentary Investigatory Commission (CPI) on Bingo Parlors today (26). In his opinion, the charge published by the press that Cuba transferred funds to help elect the president is "phantasmagorical." According to Palocci, the Workers' Party (PT) did not receive money from Cuba or any other country. During the 2002 presidential contest, the minister was coordinator of the economic program for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign.

The alleged transfer of Cuban dollars to help the campaign was denounced last year by Veja magazine. In an interview for the magazine, Vladimir Poleto, who worked for the city of Ribeirão Preto, in the state of São Paulo, when Palocci was mayor, supposedly confessed having transported the money in beverage containers. In today's testimony, the minister of Finance denied having had any direct relationship with Poleto.

Translation: David Silberstein