Supplementary > July 31, 2006

Rene Vaszues Botet: The Extortionist

By Conor Kenny

Vazquez is a former official in Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party (NPP), whose officials are often allied with the Republican Party. After he served as Bush’s Puerto Rico presidential campaign finance chair in 2000, Bush appointed Vazquez to a Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.

In 2004, a federal grand jury indicted Vazquez on charges of conspiracy, extortion and fraud. Vazquez allegedly colluded with another NPP party official and a NPP Puerto Rican House of Representatives member—who has since pleaded guilty—to demand more than $2 million in kickbacks from construction firms in exchange for using their clout to help secure contracts worth $300 million. The grand jury says that Vazquez received over $300,000 from contractors from 1996 to 1999, ending at about the same time Vazquez was likely gearing up his fundraising for Bush’s 2000 campaign. party.

Vazquez, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 100 years in prison and $2 million in fines if convicted.

Return to “Capital Crimes”

• subscribe to print magazine

  First Name Last Name Home Address City State Zip Code Email

  2-year, 24-issues, $44.95 1-year, 12-issue, $24.95

• stay in touch with our email newsletter

  Subscribe to our regular weekly e-mail newsletter. It's packed with updates on recent and upcoming stories, events, campaigns and things every progressive should be informed about.

   

• email this article to a friend

  Your Name Your Email Recipient Email

  Personal message Thought you might be interested in this article from In These Times.

   

  Please help us prevent spam by verifying the word you see in the image above

  Send to multiple recipients. Just separate each email address with a comma.

• Reader Comments

  There are no comments on this article yet. Start the discussion below.

• register a new account »Posting Security

  To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.

  Username Password

    Remember me
  

  Retreive lost password »

Member Login

Also by Conor Kenny

• Jeremy Horton
  
• Paula Villescaz
  
• Hello, Im a Democrat
  Meet the netroots activists who have moved online and into political office
• Capital Crimes
  How our current campaign finance system breeds political corruption
• James Tobin: The OperatorӔ
  James Tobin was convicted for charges related to his role in a conspiracy to jam the phone lines of the New Hampshire Democratic Party during the 2002 elections.
• Jack Abramoff: Captain Jack?
  Jack Abramoff was a central figure in the "K Street Project" - a barely legal collaboration between Republicans and lobbyists.