Ally of a Top Mexico Politician Loses Immunity From Charges

A close associate of the capital’s mayor was stripped of his congressional immunity Thursday for allegedly taking bribes -- but not before accusing federal legislators of a double standard, hinting that many had done the same thing.

Mexico’s federal Chamber of Deputies voted, 444-7, to deny Rene Bejarano, a Mexico City deputy aligned with Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s Democratic Revolution Party, all protection against prosecution for allegedly receiving about $52,000 from a businessman accused of buying influence in the awarding of public works projects. Although Bejarano is a member of the capital’s local congress, the federal assembly exercises oversight power in many Mexico City government issues.

Authorities charged Bejarano with receiving illegal funds and abetting corruption, but could not arrest him while he enjoyed immunity as a sitting member of the capital’s congress. Prosecutors had planned to collar him immediately after the vote, but were barred after a judge Thursday granted Bejarano an injunction.

A forthcoming trial could reveal the influence of money in Mexico City government -- even in the administration of Lopez Obrador, who has framed himself as a populist opposed to corruption and cronyism in Mexican politics.

A videotape of Bejarano stuffing his briefcase and pockets with cash was leaked in March to the popular morning TV show “El Mananero,” then hosted by a clown known as Brozo. The airing of the tape, with a shocked Bejarano present in the TV studio, ignited a scandal that has dimmed but not extinguished Lopez Obrador’s rising star as the favorite in the 2006 presidential race.

Although Bejarano does not deny taking the money -- during the March broadcast, he acknowledged it was he who was shown on the tape -- he told reporters Wednesday that the tapes were leaked as part of a setup staged to damage Lopez Obrador’s presidential candidacy. Previously, Bejarano claimed the cash was a campaign contribution for Leticia Robles Colin, a Mexico City council member. But she denied receiving the funds -- and the ultimate destination of the cash is still unknown.

The vote of the Chamber of Deputies came after Bejarano made an impassioned plea, saying that stripping him of his immunity would reward “political thugs ... who want to deprive the hopeful of an alternative.”

Then, with lawmakers looking on in hushed silence, Bejarano said his “mistake” was one that many in the room perhaps had committed.

“It would validate an accusation of something that perhaps many of you have done but without the presence of a video camera,” said Bejarano, pointing his finger at the assembled deputies. “Now it is me, and later it could be anyone.”

Alluding to the clown host of the “El Mananero” show, Bejarano said the federal lower house shouldn’t base its decision on “the actions of a fearsome clown converted into a judge.”

In debate following Bejarano’s remarks, Deputy Ernesto Herrera Tovar of the National Action Party expressed outrage at Bejarano’s suggestion that accepting bribes is a common practice in Congress.

But political scientist Jose Antonio Crespo of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching said in an interview that many Mexican politicians receive illegal cash without suffering consequences.

He noted that federal Sen. Ricardo Aldana had not been stripped of immunity from prosecution despite being charged in connection with the $140-million “Pemexgate” scandal in which funds earmarked for oil union workers allegedly were funneled to Aldana’s Institutional Revolutionary Party.

“Not every member of Congress takes money that way, but Bejarano’s was a legitimate defense. Cash payments, electronic transfers are at the center of the “Friends of Fox” scandal, and no one even discusses that now,” said Crespo, alluding to charges brought against President Vicente Fox’s victorious 2000 campaign for taking illegal cash contributions.

“People who are without sin should throw the first stone,” he said.

In the end, Bejarano got little support from his party: Only six of 96 members of Lopez Obrador’s party in the lower chamber voted against the measure to strip him of immunity.

Broadcast only on cable television, the proceedings attracted lunchtime crowds at restaurants with televisions.

Cantinas seeking to lure customers advertised the coverage much as they would a soccer match or baseball game.

Abraham Pineda, a banker who watched the proceedings at the Belmont Cantina here on Thursday said: “It’s disappointing that public officials act this way so flagrantly.”

“Yes, it is political theater,” said Francisco Ramirez, a brewery executive who also watched the televised proceedings. “But it is important also. People knew corruption was there, but until the video, we never saw it so open and crude.”