Leaders of the Italian village where 20 people died when a low-flying Marine Corps jet cut a gondola cable have rejected an offer of $2 million in compensation because they viewed it as a bribe.
"We were offended. They showed up in our valley, full of dollars and made a mess," said Werner Pichler, a hotel operator in the village of Cavalese and head of a committee representing victims. "It is not a question of dollars, it is a question of justice."A delegation of U.S. business leaders made the offer on May 17.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Pichler said town leaders felt they were being pressured to keep silent, and both the victims' committee and the mayor turned the offer down.
Pichler, speaking through an interpreter, said the business delegation included George B. Griffin, the U.S. consul in Milan, and representatives of several companies with interests in northern Italy.
A State Department official in Washington said Griffin rejects allegations that businesses were seeking anything in return for the money.
Griffin also denied Pichler's allegation that town leaders were pressured to stay away from legal proceedings this month in the United States against four Marine fliers involved in the accident, said the State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pichler said the compensation offer carried the implicit message that "it is best not to come to America, and if you do, don't speak about the case."
"There was no quid pro quo so openly expressed, but it was clear that they meant that," he said. He said the businesses stressed that good U.S.-Italian relations shouldn't be threatened.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, a U.S. House panel approved $20 million for damage from the tragedy.