Message to INFODIO readers: investigative journalism, which is what this site does, takes lots of time and effort. Visiting media looking for a quick run down on Venezuela's gargantuan corruption, pls have the decency to at least cite the source when plagiarising this site's content without attribution (exhibit Reuters here, exhibit Bloomberg here, exhibit OCCRP here). To all readers: do the right thing, the honest thing, support independent investigative journalism. Note added 28/06/2021: impostors are using INFODIO's former editor's full name, and a fake email address (alek.boyd.arregui at gmail.com) to send copyright infringement claims / take down requests to web hosting companies. The attempt is yet another effort paid by corrupt thugs to erase information about their criminal activities. Infodio.com has no issues with other websites / journalists using / posting information published here, so long as the source is properly cited. Note added 12/06/2026: infodio.com has not created mirror websites / domains and remains totally independent and unrelated to others. Beware of websites using our brand.
Persistent rumours about a super indictement against Nicolas Maduro, Cilia Flores, Tareck el Aisami, and Diosdado Cabello are making the rounds. It would be President Trump's administration way of ratcheting up pressure on chavismo, and according to sources could go as far as including Venezuela in the list of States Sponsors of Terrorism along Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
Perhaps the best exhibit of how not to influence America's judiciary is the blowback caused by Rudy Giuliani's hamfisted efforts to let Alejandro Betancourt off the hook, due to his financing Juan Guaido's attempts to unseat Nicolas Maduro.
While in book-writing mode I bumped again into Dinosaur Merchant Bank. It made a rather noisy entrance in 2017, when it intermediated in a transaction where Goldman Sachs bought $2.8 billion worth of Venezuela 2022 bonds on 31 cents on the dollar. I read about it in this affidavit (paragraph 83), in relation to a $100 million bond portfolio belonging to Wilmer Ruperti.
While Rudy Giuliani rushed to Bill Barr to get Alejandro Betancourt off the hook, and closest relatives of Juan Guaido provided bona fides, Nicolas Maduro had a realisation of profound consequences: Venezuela can move on from its oil dependence into money laundering. Venezuela is perfectly placed and is, in fact, the launching pad of choice for most of the cocaine produced in neighbouring Andean region that enters international markets.
Infodio has been saying it since he decided to swear himself as Venezuela's interim President in the middle of the street back in January 2019: Juan Guaido is a fraud, a two-bit thug, an inept so out of his depth that to expect anything from him, other than continuation of utterly corrupt status quo in Venezuela, is a pipe dream.
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