Ángel Víctor Torres will sue Aldama following the Civil Guard report

MadridThe Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard published this on Monday the report on the alleged involvement of the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, in the Koldo/Ábalos plot related to the purchase of face masks and antigen test kits during the pandemic. The text pointed to the "influence" that commission agent Víctor de Aldama had on the purchase of medical supplies by the Canary Islands government, which Torres presided over during the pandemic. However, it does not confirm that the current Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory received any commission. This is precisely what Torres has been boasting about this afternoon: "Nowhere in the report is there any criminal activity by the government I had the honor of leading," he stated at a press conference. The minister, in this regard, announced a lawsuit against De Aldama for intrusion into his honor and that of his family, his privacy, and his image.

Torres believes that the commission agent has told "falsehoods, lies, and vile things" about him. The minister denied having a "close relationship" with De Aldama, as the latter had claimed, and again referred to the UCO report. "If there were a close relationship, there would be many conversations," he asserted, noting that the Civil Guard's more than 300-page document only includes one message describing a meeting between the two. "What the Central Operational Unit shows is that there were no conversations between Aldama and Ángel Víctor Torres," he concluded. The minister also defended his innocence by citing Judge Leopoldo Puente's decision this week, which recommended sending José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama to trial for allegedly receiving commissions in the purchase of face masks. "I am not being held responsible in any way," he asserted.

The Civil Guard explains in its report that Torres met with Víctor de Aldama to discuss payment for the purchase of face masks and that he also exchanged messages with Koldo García. The former advisor to José Luis Ábalos, in this regard, allegedly demanded "outstanding payments" from the company Soluciones de Gestión, and Torres reportedly replied: "I'm on top of your payment." However, the minister explained that he intervened because the company had not been paid for the masks it had delivered. "The company was right because they hadn't received payment," he asserted.

The "differences" with Isla

The minister also explained the "differences" he had with the then Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, regarding antigen tests. Torres said that his government requested antigen tests from the ministry in order to relax restrictions on tourism, the main economic driver of the Canary Islands. However, the ministry insisted that the tests should be carried out using PCR. "We had significant differences with Isla, the then Minister of Health," Torres admitted.