Moore: Elorza’s Misguided Guatemalan Tour
Monday, August 24, 2015
The more time someone spends following politics closely, the more one understands the general public's frustration that fuels the apathy we see towards politicians and government at all levels.
Just last year, then candidate Jorge Elorza campaigned around the City of Providence telling everyone who would listen that Providence would be making a grave mistake by electing Buddy Cianci Mayor of Providence once again given that he had been convicted on a single corruption charge.
Now, fast forward one year later, and Mayor Jorge Elorza is on what's being described as a trip to Guatemala, meeting with that country's President to discuss potential trade deals with the City of Providence. The only problem is the fact that the President of Guatemala makes former Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci look like a choir boy.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBy all accounts, Guatemala President Otto Perez Molina is one bad dude. His Vice President stepped down over a kickback scheme over imports into the country run by his own personal secretary. Molina's son-in-law was arrested for drug trafficking last month. And Molina himself is suspected, has been accused, and all but implicated in war crimes during that countries civil war during the 1980s.
One Bad Dude
If it weren't for the fact that a national election is taking place in Guatemala next month, and the fact that Molina isn't up for reelection, the President would, by most accounts, have been thrust out of office.
Like so many of the rest of us, Providence City Council President Luis Aponte thought it was crazy that Elorza decided to meet with such a scandal-ridden administration.
"How come no one Googled this guy?" Aponte wondered. "The first five things that come up are related to corruption."
Aponte was stating the obvious question that everyone else was wondering.
Providence Problems
What made matters worse was the fact that things aren't exactly smooth sailing back here at home. The city was forced to prematurely close down its pools, during a heat wave, no less, due to potentially unsafe water quality. I wonder if the government officials in Guatemala showed Elorza what clean swimming pools looked like?
And the mayor still has unfinished business with getting the platoon shift reform in the fire department settled once and for all. (An initiative I credit the mayor for undertaking, by the way.)
So while there's plenty of problems back at home, Elorza was toasting with the corrupt Guatemalan President. That doesn't look so good.
A Hero's Return
Look, on one hand, it's understandable why Elorza would have wanted to visit the home country of his father. The visit did, in a sense, reflect well on America. It showed that our country is still a place where a immigrant can come and within 40 years his son is becomes a Mayor of a major United States City. Elorza's visit to his father's native country was a hero's return.
But at the same time, there are many unanswered questions about the trip. First of all, what was Elorza's stated goal of the official visit? That hasn't been explained. Was it to encourage immigration from Guatemala to the United States? If so, what was promised other than Elorza's lobbying to increase the chance for immigrants to attend public universities and obtain driver's licenses?
Who Paid the Bill?
Secondly, who paid for the trip? And if public money was expended, how much? Was it a worthwhile expenditure in the investment?
These official trips by American mayors and other government officials deserve more scrutiny from the press, and the general public moving forward. They seem to be good fun for the politicians who make them, but not much is gained for the constituents they represent. They're just junkets.
It's unfortunate that Elorza went on such a questionable and perhaps ill-advised trip during relatively turbulent times in the City. Hopefully, this will send a message to other politicians that they should take care of business at home before they travel abroad.
Russell Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island media, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.
Related Slideshow: Ten Issues Elorza Can’t Hide From
Inauguration activities are now underway for the new Mayor of Providence, Jorge Elorza.
While the pomp, circumstance, and celebration taking place over the next several days, here are the issues the new Mayor will have no choice but to soon have to deal with.
Related Articles
- Moore: Elorza’s Budget is a Bridge To Nowhere
- Moore: Call on Mattiello to Pass Ethics Bill
- Moore: Mattiello Must Leave Pawsox Fate Up To Voters
- Moore: Elorza Should Prioritize Students, Not Trolleys
- Moore: Elorza Shows Bravery by Taking on Firefighters
- Moore: A Preposterous PawSox Proposal
- Moore: Chafee’s Brilliant Decision
- Russ Moore: 5 Things To Hate About Raimondo’s Budget
- Russell Moore: The Taylor Swift Tax Diversion
- Russell Moore: RI Government’s Culture of Secrecy
- Russell Moore: Fear and Loathing - RI Style
- Moore: Is Platoon Reduction a Ploy to Elminate Firefighters?
- Moore: Ask Not Who the Toll is For; It’s For You
- Moore: Forget GE, RI Can’t Even Retain Teespring
- Moore: Nellie Gorbea’s Insensitivity
- Russell Moore: Attack of the Anti-Education-Reformers
- Moore: Fung’s Fiasco Shows Us To Distrust Party Affiliation
- Moore: Will Brookings Study Remember RI’s Forgotten People?
- Moore: Can New Ed Commissioner Wagner Handle RI?
- Moore: Mello Takes Over a Fire Department In Turmoil
- Moore: Will Magaziner Protect Rhode Island or Wall St.?
- Moore: Elorza Must Pursue Pension Reform
- Moore: RI Republicans Forfeit Credibility
- Moore: Legislature Recesses! Is Worst Yet To Come?
- Elorza Travels to Guatemala to Meet with Discredited President
- Which is Worse - Closing Highways or Pools for Political Reasons?
- EXCLUSIVE: Council Majority Leader Jackson Calls for Providence Pools Investigation
- NEW: Providence Closes City Pools During Heat Wave
- NEW: Health Concerns Close Pools, Providence Fails to Disclose
