The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, spoke this Friday on Radio Lanzarote - Onda Cero to present his version of the alleged halting of a criminal case that the Insular Water Consortium and Inalsa were carrying out against the former president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés, for contracts to his friend, the lawyer Ignacio Calatayud.
Betancort began his speech by warning that he is "calm" in the face of the two pieces of information published by the digital newspaper Canarias Ahora, where he is accused of halting the actions promoted by the public companies against his party colleague four days after taking office as president of the Cabildo. In addition to using a "tailor-made" report to nullify the accusation against the now senator of the Canary Islands Autonomous Community.
Oswaldo Betancort, on the alleged halting of the process against Pedro San Ginés
"First, the person speaking to you is calm. Second, the legal service [which initiated the criminal actions against San Ginés, at the request of the previous Government Group] had no contractual relationship with the Consortium.
I found practically one, two, three, and I think many more contracts without any contractual relationship with the Consortium. Therefore, I assigned the legal representation of these and many other cases related to the Consortium, the Insular Water Council, and the Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote to the Legal Service of the Cabildo.
All external lawyers, those who do not have a contractual relationship with the Consortium, I cannot negotiate with them because they have no contractual relationship, therefore, it is normal. I cannot mandate or remove the mandate from anyone who does not have a contractual relationship.
The Legal Service of the Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote, which represents all of us, is the one that really holds and held and will hold to this day this and so many representations that they have.
The Legal Service of the Consortium is the one that really mandates the presidency to take this and many actions not only in the past, but also in the present and in the future, as it cannot be otherwise."
Mr. President, so you arrive at the Cabildo and ask about all the legal services of the Water Consortium, the Insular Water Council, and the Cabildo, and you fire all the lawyers who were in these proceedings?
"If they have no contractual relationship, if the contractual relationship has expired, yes. From the year 2022, there are many firms that have no contractual relationship with the Consortium.
What I do is put a legal representation in the Water Consortium, from the house, ours, from the Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote. From there on, the technicians tell the Presidency everything that needs to be done."
I cannot understand why in the administration, and you also in the City Council, hire a lawyer or a firm to handle a case and until this procedure is finished, which ends with the sentence, that lawyer or that law firm continues.
It continues with a contractual relationship, but there is no contractual relationship. I tell all the citizens in Lanzarote and La Graciosa because I know that I am a target to be shot at in this case by the opposition, that I still do not have the power to stop any criminal proceedings, neither of Pedro San Ginés, nor of a relative of Pedro San Ginés, nor of my brother, nor of a very close relative of mine.
I do not have that power, therefore, I do not order to recuse, that I was not the one who ordered to recuse. The other corporation ordered to recuse, which is doing a disservice, nor do I dictate a nullity to that recusal. What I put is people from the house in front of the legal service to save money. Therefore, I am really completely calm, when the news comes out in a media outlet, which no one signs.
Well, but that doesn't matter.
I am not used to that journalistic practice. Each one what he says he reflects it or it is my opinion. From there one sees where the sense goes. I am super calm because I am mandated by a legal service of the house of the Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote and, from there, what I do is what the legal service says, neither to favor nor to harm absolutely anyone and yes, to the Corporation and to the Water Consortium.
President, you will understand that you have cast a shadow of doubt, because what was really being tried is that those two million euros that Ignacio Calatayud had allegedly taken were returned. Therefore, recover the money. But hiring and putting María Eugenia Torres, who is Calatayud's witness, to do that report, you will have to recognize that we citizens say, uy, what's going on?
When I enter a corporation, I do not know who has the RPT, the job of gardener, mechanic, welder, engineer or lawyer. I address my legal service, the legal service of the Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote, composed of these and so many people and I tell him. Hey, gentlemen, tell me the contractual relationship. This has no contractual relationship. Well then you, who are the legal service, start working as legal services because that is how you have entered the house and from there I put myself in the hands of the legal service.
I am not going to personalize in this lady or the other lady, with all my respects, I put myself in the hands of these professionals because it will not be a unipersonal person, but a team, right? And they told me hey like this, like this, like this and like this. I don't know how it worked in the past.
There have always been external lawyers in that Cabildo. All my life. I say that, with Pedro San Ginés especially too. So during all the years there have always been external lawyers who have defended the interests of the Cabildo better or worse.
I do not say that there are not and that there will not be, but those that there are or those that there will be is with one in a mandated contract, with a contractual relationship, with this and that. Second point, I do not order to recuse anything. I was not the one who recused anything.
Because first, if you ask me, I say look, that's what they are for, that is, I am nobody to recuse a judge and I can understand it, but I am not the judge who dictated the nullity of that recusal, condemning in costs. That is why we are going to talk about money and accounting responsibilities and many things that we can talk about condemning the Consortium itself in costs.
Well, look, I do not want this scenario, I look after the interests of the company and I tell the legal service that everything must be done to look after the interests of the company and if from there I put myself in the hands of the such. Now that it coincides that she was that the other was. Beyond that I only say that I do not have the power or the divinity to stop any criminal case against any citizen of this country.
I am simply trying to look after the interests of the Insular Water Consortium of Lanzarote.
And are you going to continue fighting for those almost two million euros that were irregularly, as also stated by the former manager of the Consortium, or are you going to give up on that case. Because Eugenia Torres was a witness with Ignacio Calatayud, she told him that everything was great. Therefore, that falls I understand, that part of yours of the Consortium is not going to fight again.
I tell you that we are going to fight for the cent that had to be returned or that we have to claim in this and in so many cases, that is, I have so many open cases.
Well, in fact yesterday we published in La Voz de Lanzarote very good news, that the Water Consortium does not have to pay 240,000 euros and if you allow me it is an external lawyer who unfortunately is no longer there to whom I had a lot of appreciation.
Well, she did her job and charged for her job, hey perfect. Now they claim half a million euros from me for the occupation of a tank. Hey, wait a minute, it seems very strange to me that a tank costs half a million euros. Put all the ABCD possibilities on the table to comply with the sentence as it cannot be otherwise but also that the company has a profit or has an economic balance and but there are so many things. So, really, I know that politics is there that pum Oswaldo Betancort, Oswaldo Betancort. I think it's great, it's part of the circus.
We will talk about water at length, but very long and hard because long and hard things come out of the audit and those who ordered to recuse, to move accounts from one to another, those who tried with public money to put an umbrella so that a claim does not fall, those who left more than 40 million euros in an account and an imbalance in desalination are doing a disservice. I am absolutely silent.
I want to convey my peace of mind because I am in the hands of the legal services of the Cabildo, not of one person, but of a legal service. Beyond this, well, I understand the coincidences, I do not share them, I respect them.
The PSOE has asked you for the complete file, are you going to deliver the entire file?
I will probably convene an Assembly of the Consortium to talk about water and logically there will be an item on the agenda of this alleged because there will be things that can be given and others that cannot.
Bad tongues say, or good ones, that Pedro San Ginés is all day in the Cabildo with papers up, since you were president.
I invited the senator to a meeting with the air traffic controllers of Lanzarote because it seems to me a very important issue. It is true that I have to congratulate the air traffic controllers of Lanzarote who have committed to not going on strike during Holy Week. The one who has the solution is Aena.
