CARACAS, Friday November 28, 2008 | Update
Politics
Maracaibo mayor-elect Manuel Rosales appeared at the National
Assembly Comptroller Committee to testify on presumed irregularities
during his incumbency as Zulia state governor.
The parliamentarian committee interrogated the former governor
about the claims of tax evasion in the Zulia lottery for USD
8.8 million and the donation of a vehicle property of the
state to local police commander Jesús Cubillán.
The committee is headed by deputies Mario Isea, Giovany Peña
and Julio Moreno. The first item in the agenda was the alleged
malfeasance by outgoing governor Rosales at the Zulia lottery.
Rosales lamented that he appeared at the committee after
being the target of a "volley" of lies, insults and false
charges.
He said that the clearance of the Zulia lottery came up in
a "political bump" because they succeeding in turning a bankrupt
company into a thriving agency that helps the Zulia citizens.
"As for the lottery; when we arrived in the Zulia state government,
we received from the administration of Arias Cárdenas,
Giancarlo Di Martino and Mario Isea a broken institution that
had been used as petty cash for political purposes; it was
one of the most discredited institutions in Zulia and Venezuela."
Carolina Contreras
EL UNIVERSAL
11:00 AM. Economy. Based on the official data, more and more families failed to get out of poverty in 2008; the exclusion status of more people moved faster and fewer people are on their way to overcome this situation. According to the data provided by the official National Statistics Institute (INE), last year the poorest homes in the country recorded an average monthly income of USD 401.82, whereas the food basket amounted to 417.77