Deputy Escobar approached the podium where Zelaya was concluding the press conference, to later reject the official’s remarks about the budget. Then the officer quarreled with Escobar.
Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya provoked an altercation when he finished giving a press conference in the Assembly on Wednesday night, where he came to appeal to the changes that the opposition deputies made to next year’s draft budget.
Zelaya said that by transferring money to mayors, lawmakers are taking about $ 15 million in a loan to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and other resources to purchase student computers in 2021 and are working to reduce deposits in several colonies and communities.
“We will not let the COVID-19 vaccine be removed to give money to its mayors,” Zelaya said.
“That I took the money from the COVID vaccine, lie! The money to buy the COVID vaccine is complete and also non-transferable, they can’t use that money for the vaccine for anything other than the vaccine,” Escobar said.
Prior to these statements, Deputy Escobar approached the podium where Zelaya was concluding the press conference and then gave statements to journalists. It was at that moment that there was an exchange of words between them.
Finance Minister and MP Margarita Escobar had an altercation when she approached the podium where she held a press conference. Photo EDH / Francisco Rubio
“I came several times asking to be summoned …” Zelaya burst out when she saw Deputy Escobar approaching. Suddenly, one of the people who was present said “corrupt” to the official, causing his immediate reaction.
“Don’t call me corrupt, I’m not a thief, maybe you are, but I’m not,” Zelaya said.
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“You don’t want the codes, you don’t want the codes?” Escobar insisted on Zelaya and he replied: “No, I asked him several times to summon me, but even if they want to approve his anger …” the finance minister insisted.
Zelaya attacked MEPs for changes to certain allocations in the 2021 budget. Photo EDH / Francisco Rubio
“You are always called and you never come, you never get out of pressure and now you want us to call you. I thought, when they told me that you came, that you had the affidavit and you didn’t bring it “, Escobar told him.
“Yes, Margarita, yes, Margarita, go ahead and approve whatever you want, really, take the funds from the computers, that’s what you want, do you want to take the gules out of the Salvadoran people? Take them out, thank you Margarita,” Zelaya said.
“This is the finance minister we have,” Escobar criticized when he saw Zelaya’s defiant attitude.
“Thank you, Mr Deputy, thank you, I asked you to defend yourself, please, please,” the finance minister said. “Good evening, Minister, calm down,” Escobar insisted.
“I just heard a lot of lies, disrespect, exaggeration and the biggest disrespect is you, my spectator friend. He claims that we do not ask him to come, we always ask him to come, he does not even come out of the pressure “, Escobar asked.
In the Treasury Committee, deputy Donato Vaquerano, from ARENA, clarified that the money that Zelaya says they took for vaccines is contemplated in another loan of 50 million dollars, which is special for health. He pointed out that, for the reorientation of the elements, they took funds from another loan for the same amount of 50 million dollars that was to be consolidated in the 2020 budget.
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