Former Prime Minister José Sócrates said on Thursday, during the trial of the Operation Marquês case, that the Grupo Lena agreement in Venezuela, considered advantageous, was negotiated by Paulo Portas during Pedro Passos Coelho's government. Sócrates returned to court practically a year after his last statements, this time without a lawyer.
The former prime minister wanted to show that there was no favoritism toward the Lena group during the period when he governed. According to Sócrates, "who helped the Lena company make a good deal for the Lena company was the government that succeeded me," referring to Passos Coelho's executive.
Sócrates stated that "who did all the diplomatic work so that Lena could do housing construction in Venezuela" was the Passos Coelho government and its Foreign Minister, Paulo Portas. "This agreement is of the utmost importance. It was made during Dr. Passos Coelho's time. I cannot be more complimentary," he added, despite the doubts raised by Judge Susana Seca.
In the indictment, the Public Ministry argues that the Lena group paid nearly 2.4 million euros to José Sócrates to obtain privileged support in the competition for the construction of social housing in Venezuela. Sócrates is one of 21 defendants in the case and faces, among other crimes, three counts of corruption, for allegedly receiving money to benefit the Grupo Lena, the Grupo Espírito Santo, and the Vale do Lobo Algarve resort.
