[News] Guaidó’s Star Fades as His Envoys to Colombia Allegedly Commit Fraud With Humanitarian Funds for Venezuela
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Wed Jun 19 10:45:01 EDT 2019
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/19/guaidos-star-fades-as-his-envoys-to-colombia-allegedly-commit-fraud-with-humanitarian-funds-for-venezuela/
Guaidó’s Star Fades as His Envoys to Colombia Allegedly Commit Fraud
With Humanitarian Funds for Venezuela
by William Camacaro - Frederick B. Mills
<https://www.counterpunch.org/author/gaspeme111/> - June 19, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In an investigative report
<https://es.panampost.com/orlando-avendano/2019/06/14/enviados-de-guaido-se-apropian-de-fondos-para-ayuda-humanitaria-en-colombia/?cn-reloaded=1>,
“Envoys of Guaidó Appropriate Funds for Humanitarian Assistance in
Colombia” (June 14, 2019), Editor in Chief of /PanAm Post/, Orlando
Avendaño, details the alleged “diversion of money, embezzlement of
funds, inflation of bills, fraud, and threats [by representatives of
self proclaimed president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó] in order to
surround themselves with luxuries.” (1)
These allegations of fraud committed by functionaries of Guaidó in
Colombia are raising alarm within the fractured Venezuelan opposition
about the political damage this might do to their cause, but for critics
of the US backed shadow Venezuelan government, this is just the tip of
the iceberg, with the expectation of more such revelations of fraud to come.
Among a trove of documentary evidence, including itemized invoices,
Avendaño provides a copy of a letter from Guaidó to Carlos Holmes
Trujillo Garcia, Minister of Foreign Relations of the Republic of
Colombia, dated February 24, 2019. In the letter, Guaidó designates
Kevin Rojas and Rossana Barrera, both members of the right wing
opposition Venezuelan political party, Voluntad Popular (VP), to “attend
to the situation” of Venezuelan military personnel and civilians who
“enter Colombian territory seeking help and refuge.” Avendaño points
out that “Rossana Barrera is the sister-in-law of National Assembly
Deputy of the party Voluntad Popular, Sergio Vergara, right hand man of
president Juan Guaidó.” She was part of Guaidó’s inner circle.
To put Guaidó’s letter in context, we move our focus for a moment to the
frontier town of Cúcuta, Colombia, which is just across the border from
the Venezuelan town of San Cristóbal, Táchira. (2) We return to the
events of February 23, 2019, that fateful day when US and Colombian
backed Guaidó and his supporters had planned to force a convoy of
“humanitarian aid” trucks over the border, with the objective of
scoring a propaganda victory against the Maduro administration and
inspiring army defections, all as a prelude to a coup against the
constitutional government of Venezuela.
The US-Colombian-Venezuelan opposition alliance pulled out all the
stops; there was to be a media show on a grand scale surrounding the
actions in Cúcuta. A concert fundraiser, Venezuela Live Aid, starring
Richard Branson, was held on February 22, and a media campaign gave the
impression that Guaidó’s aim was to deliver “humanitarian assistance”
for Venezuela. But the plan began to unravel as soon as it commenced.
The three million dollars raised by the concert is still not accounted
for. And the majority of the food on the trucks would end up rotting in
place. Neither the International Red Cross nor the United Nations would
lend credibility to Washington’s insistence that this was a
“humanitarian” mission. The whole project was tainted by the obvious
ulterior motive of attempting to bring about regime change in Venezuela.
An important part of the plan was to inspire massive army defections
through carrot and stick pronouncements emanating from Washington. It
was presumably the last chance for soldiers to avoid punishment and reap
the rewards of desertion. Though Guaidó promised to welcome army
deserters as heroes, the defections did not reflect any serious breach
in the Venezuelan military. It did create a need, however, to coordinate
and fund the room and board of several hundred military personnel and
their families who answered the call. (3) According to Avendaño’s
sources, once housed at a seven area hotels, some of these “heroes” of
the shadow government were not always on their best behavior:
“The small army on which the president [Guaidó] counted, but until now
gave a bad impression in Cúcuta. Prostitutes, alcohol and violence. They
demanded and demanded. In the end, that was not for free.”
As the “humanitarian” funds started flowing to pay the expenses being
racked up by the military defectors as well as the exorbitant spending
of the envoy’s charged with overseeing those payments, an international
media campaign gave the impression that President Nicolás Maduro was
opposed to receiving humanitarian assistance. Although Maduro was not
about to welcome the Trojan Horse from Cúcuta, there had been and
continues to be ongoing deliveries of /authentic /humanitarian aid
coordinated by UN agencies as well as the International Red Cross. And
two weeks after initial false reports in the Western media that Maduro’s
forces were responsible for setting aid trucks on fire on the Francisco
de Paula Santander bridge, it was finally acknowledged by the New York
Times
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-aid-fire-video.html>
on March 10th that video evidence shows it was most likely Guaidó
supporters whose molotov cocktails, inadvertently or not, caused the
fires. (4)
In the aftermath of the “humanitarian aid” debacle of February 23,
Guaidó still had a promise to keep to several hundred defectors and
their families. According to documents provided to Avendaño by
Colombian Intelligence, Guaidó’s emissaries were in charge of the
disbursement of funds to cover the cost of military deserters and their
families staying at two of seven hotels. He alleges that Barrera and
Rojas misappropriated funds slated for humanitarian purposes to party
and surround themselves with luxuries.
“Colombian Intelligence was the first to specify the anomaly. They
brought me the evidence. Invoices that show excesses and, several, very
strange, of different checkbooks, signed the same day and with identical
handwriting styles. Almost all without a seal. Costs exceeding three
million pesos a night at Colombian hotels and nightclubs. Some one
thousand dollars in food and drink. Spending on clothing in very
expensive stores in Bogotá and in Cúcuta. Reports of vehicle rentals and
payments to overpriced hotels. The money flowed. Lots of money.”
*Fallout from the PanAm Post Report*
Within a matter of hours Avendaño’s report had spread on social media;
major Venezuelan newspapers from across the political spectrum carried
headlines with calls by some opposition figures to conduct an audit of
the expenses in question. These allegations of corruption, coming from a
right of center media outlet were not to be taken lightly.
Voluntad Popular
<http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=129118> (VP),
which finds itself at the center of the maelstrom, issued a statement
calling into question the charges made in the /PanAm Post/, declaring
that “the interim government does not manage international funds of
humanitarian assistance.” VP stated: “The funds were and are managed by
the governments of Colombia and the USA, agencies of cooperation,
international non-governmental organizations (ONG), among others. But
the National Assembly (AN) did not administer funds in Colombia for
humanitarian materials.” Nevertheless, the charges and the evidence
presented against some of their associates are somewhat compelling. So
it is not surprising that VP has also joined calls for an investigation
in order “to get to the bottom of things.” (5)
The centrist Venezuelan periodical El Universal
<https://www.eluniversal.com.co/colombia/guaido-pide-a-colombia-investigar-supuesta-corrupcion-de-sus-delegados-FK1286623>
reported on June 15 that Guaidó himself called on Colombian intelligence
to investigate the alleged corruption of his envoys. (6) Guaidó tweeted:
“Delegation in Colombia has managed with austerity and economic
limitations situation of military personnel in that country. In the face
of denunciations, I ask Ambassador Humberto Calderón Berti to formally
request from Colombian intelligence agencies the necessary
investigation. Transparency first of all!” Berti responded that an
investigation had already been underway and that he was “working on the
final phase of an audit of this lamentable and sultry case.” The problem
with an audit by Berti is that, according to Avendaño, Berti provided a
payment to one of the hotels out of his personal finances, and his check
ended up bouncing. This means he himself ought to be included in any
investigation.
By June 17 this story was well known in Venezuela but back burner news
in the US. Venezuela’s Globovisión
<https://www.globovision.com/article/venezuela-ayuda-humanitaria-tambien-incluye-alcohol-y-prostitutas>
ran the headline, Venezuela: “Humanitarian Assistance also includes
alcohol and prostitutes?.” (7) The scandal is now in full swing and
Guaidó, who just a few months ago was the darling of Washington and the
Lima Group, is now in hot water, and some of his closest associates are
running for cover.
Guaidó’s biggest political backer, however, still has no shame. In a
tweet <https://twitter.com/Almagro_OEA2015/status/1139658418573234179>
on June 14, Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, who has been a
regime change fanatic, said:
“We ask the competent jurisdiction for an investigation that clarifies
the serious charges formulated here, determine responsibilities and
demand accountability. There is no possible democratization under the
opacity of acts of corruption”. (8)
Coming from the General Secretary’s office, this likely faithfully
conveys the State Department position on this particular issue.
Almagro’s tweet does raise an important question. What would be the
“competent jurisdiction” to carry out such an investigation? What body
has the democratic and legal credentials to carry out this urgent and
important task? The OAS has lost such “competence” by allowing Almagro
to use the multilateral organization to attack Venezuela and promote the
confiscation of billions in Venezuelan assets.
What about Colombian intelligence which was reportedly not happy with
the situation and was a major source for Avendaño’s article? Although
Colombian Intelligence obviously has important evidence, and therefore
ought to be part of a credible investigation, Colombia cannot serve as a
“competent jurisdiction” because President Iván Duque has allied himself
too closely with Guaidó to inspire confidence. And the US, which used
“humanitarian assistance” in February as a pretext for advancing regime
change, does not project moral authority in either Bogota or Caracas. If
the investigation is conducted by a UN body, it may get credible results.
The government of Venezuela has indicated that it had already sought to
expose Guaido’s faction within the opposition as a corrupt terrorist
organization months before the /PanAm Post/ revelations. Jorge Rodríguez
<https://www.laiguana.tv/articulos/502281-ministro-jorge-rodriguez-robo-escandalo-ayuda-humanitaria-pruebas/>,
Communications Minister of Venezuela, gave a press conference on Monday
providing more details relevant to this case, including the involvement
of other members of Guiado’s inner circle in the scandal. (9) According
to Rodríguez, there was also a diversion of funds to recruit mercenaries
from other countries to wreak havoc inside Venezuela. In another press
conference with President Maduro that same day, Rodríguez
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEE4flR9qI&feature=youtu.be> also
alluded to a possible upcoming investigation by the US Department of
Justice of allegations of corruption involving those assigned to direct
CITGO on behalf of the shadow government. (10)
*Political Implications: Time for Washington to Change Course*
This /PanAm Post/ article adds fuel to the fire of growing skepticism
about the viability of the US backed Venezuelan shadow government,
especially on the heels of self proclaimed president Juan Guaido’s
failure to inspire a popular uprising, divide the military, or gain
democratic legitimacy inside the Bolivarian Republic. It appears that
most of Guaidó’s political leverage comes from the devastating toll
wrought by US economic sanctions and the continuing threat of US
military intervention. Both factors have caused growing antipathy inside
Venezuela towards those conspiring to overthrow the government of
President Nicolás Maduro and surrender the nation to US influence.
Corruption is no doubt a problem in both the private and public sectors
in Venezuela. But this is an issue for Venezuelans to resolve. The
/PanAm Post/ report heightens the skepticism about what is happening to
the billions in Venezuelan assets confiscated by the US to fund a
corrupt client shadow government. And it is raising the temperature of
indignation among those suffering the consequences of US economic
sanctions while Guaidó and his inner circle live the high life in
Bogota, Miami and Madrid. It is time for the US to change course and
re-establish diplomatic ties with the Maduro administration which
remains open to dialogue with Washington.
/Note: Translations by the authors from Spanish to English are unofficial./
*/End notes/*
(1)
https://es.panampost.com/orlando-avendano/2019/06/14/enviados-de-guaido-se-apropian-de-fondos-para-ayuda-humanitaria-en-colombia/?cn-reloaded=1.
Brackets added; Avendaño actually refers to Guaidó as “president” of
Venezuela.
See Luigino Bracci Roa
<https://albaciudad.org/2019/06/panampost-emisarios-juan-guaido-corrupcion-ayuda-humanitaria-colombia/>
(June 15, 2019 Alba Ciudad) for a good summary of this /PanAm Post/
article, and an English translation of this summary published by the
Orinoco Tribune
<https://orinocotribune.com/guaidos-representatives-involved-in-corruption-scandal-in-colombia-humanitarian-aid>
(June 16, 2019).
(2) This borderland is the site of linked commerce. For example, when
the sanctions cause gasoline shortages in Venezuela, the hardship is
felt just as much in Cúcuta. On the Colombian-Venezuelan border economy,
see Mills and Camacaro
<http://www.coha.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Venezuela-Takes-Control-of-Its-Borders-as-Bogota-and-Caracas-Bring-Their-Cases-to-UNASUR.pdf>
(3) According to Avendaño, not all deserters were active duty soldiers
coming in from Venezuela: “In view of the juicy offer of financial
support, military personnel who had emigrated to Peru or Ecuador, old
functionaries, civilians with falsified documents, presented themselves
in Cúcuta to proclaim their presumed support for the new Government of
the Venezuelan opposition.” /PanAm Post/, June 14, 2019.
(4)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/world/americas/venezuela-aid-fire-video.html
(5) http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=129118
(6)
https://www.eluniversal.com.co/colombia/guaido-pide-a-colombia-investigar-supuesta-corrupcion-de-sus-delegados-FK1286623. Guaidó’s
tweet, original Spanish: Delegación en Colombia ha manejado con
austeridad y limitaciones económicas situación de militares en ese país.
Ante denuncias, pido al embajador Humberto Calderón Berti solicitar
formalmente a organismos de inteligencia colombiana la investigación
necesaria. íTransparencia ante todo!
(7)
https://www.globovision.com/article/venezuela-ayuda-humanitaria-tambien-incluye-alcohol-y-prostitutas
(8) https://twitter.com/Almagro_OEA2015/status/1139658418573234179.
Original Spanish: Solicitamos a jurisdicción competente investigación
esclarecedora de graves cargos aquí formulados, determinar
responsabilidades y exigir rendición de cuentas. No hay democratización
posible bajo la opacidad de actos de corrupción.
(9)
https://www.laiguana.tv/articulos/502281-ministro-jorge-rodriguez-robo-escandalo-ayuda-humanitaria-pruebas/
(10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEE4flR9qI&feature=youtu.be
--
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20190619/36f83dc4/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list