Puerto Rican Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila surrendered to federal authorities on Friday and pleaded not guilty to corruption charges as hundreds of his followers rallied in the street outside to booming salsa music.
Acevedo is charged with conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws and defraud the IRS, and giving false testimony to the FBI -- 19 counts in all with a total sentence of 20 years in prison if he's convicted.
His response has been to stoke Puerto Rican nationalism, describing the federal indictment as an attack against all Puerto Ricans.
"I will put up a fight for Puerto Rico" he declared after being booked and emerged into a raucous crowd of some 300 supporters, exchanging hugs and high-fives.
But not all Puerto Ricans see Acevedo's problem as their own.
Luis Fortuno, Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional delegate and Acevedo's chief rival as he seeks re-election in November, said the governor should resign.
"He does not have the moral standing to govern the people and resolve this mess that he has gotten us into," Fortuno said.
But Acevedo vowed "to remain firm as governor of all Puerto Ricans" at a press conference he later held at his residence, La Fortaleza, a powder-blue fort and mansion where Puerto Rico's governors have lived since the 17th century.
Acevedo then walked along Old San Juan's cobblestone streets to buy himself a coffee, projecting defiance and a business-as-usual attitude.
But away from the cameras, inside the FBI's offices, he appeared somber as he was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken, FBI agent Brenda Diaz said.
"He's starting to grasp what's going on," Diaz said. "It doesn't hit you until you get here."
The governor later appeared composed and winked at reporters as he left the courtroom, where Thomas Green, his Washington-based attorney, wasted no time in saying that his client "pleads not guilty to each and every count."
The magistrate released Acevedo on his own recognizance but required him to check in with authorities once a month by telephone and notify them before he travels outside Puerto Rico. No trial date was set.
The indictment accuses Acevedo and a dozen associates of illegally raising money to pay off more than US$500,000 in campaign debts.
He accused the Justice Department of targeting him because he criticized an FBI raid in which a fugitive militant for Puerto Rican independence was killed and because he opposes the death penalty, which can only be imposed in the island for federal crimes.
In editorials, local newspapers called for Puerto Ricans to let the justice system proceed.
"The seriousness of the charges and the unprecedented fact that the main person accused is our maximum figure of executive authority calls for an enormous dose of prudence and equanimity from everyone," El Nuevo Dia said.
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