Message to INFODIO readers: investigative journalism, which is what this site does, takes lots of time. Visiting media looking for a quick run down on Venezuela's gargantuan corruption, have the decency to at least cite the source when plagiarising this site's content without attribution (exhibit Reuters here and here, exhibit Bloomberg here, exhibit OCCRP here). To all readers, do the right thing, the honest thing: support independent investigative journalism, help us expose rampant corruption. 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 (exhibit Hostgator). 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.
As usual, there are many myths floating around when it comes to Venezuela. It's the land of realismo mágico. Just the other day, I was reading a story in El Universal, where Chavez was basically saying that thanks to him, presumably, Venezuela's GDP has increased three fold. At this point, it is futile to call Chavez on his BS: the poor man is so deranged that he does believe his own lies.
"Money talks and bullshit walks" goes the saying. Sir Frank Williams is quoted by BBC as having said "Pastor has proven he is not only quick but can also maintain a consistent and strong race pace..." Fair enough, some may say. However, it would have been interesting indeed to hear Williams' opinion regarding Maldonado had he not come to his team with a multimillion pound sponsorship deal from PDVSA.
*UPDATE at bottom. Lately, information coming out of Venezuela confirms that officials from the Hugo Chavez regime are totally unaccountable, above the law for all practical purposes. It sort of started when Congressman Carlos Ramos revealed there was a $29 billion fiscal hole in FONDEN, which is basically an out-of-budget fund that Hugo Chavez uses with absolute discretion to fund his pet projects and global revolution.
Daniel writes in to say that I should provide a bit of an explanation for why this should be a scandal. I guess that the reason would be that it is simply not normal for a Central Bank, to transfer free and clear, ownership of a sovereign bond, worth $2 billion, to a recently formed limited company with a share capital of £2,000, managed by an individual (Tony Caplin) who appears as inactive in the Financial Services Authority register.
Congressman Carlos Ramos is now turning his attention to Frank Williams' F1 team. PDVSA, the Venezuelan oil State conglomerate, is sponsoring the Williams F1 team. No one in Venezuela -apart from a handful of chavistas- knows how many millions have PDVSA promised and disbursed to Williams F1 team. In any case, according to Venezuelan legislation, no public monies can be committed to any such projects without the approval of the Venezuelan Congress.
The letter from Congressman Carlos Ramos to Isabelle Marand, VP Corporate Coomunications at Gemalto, was delivered to her office in 6 Rue de la Verreine, Meudon, in France, on 7 November 2011, according to La Poste:
Fortunately, somebody in Venezuela is paying attention to the investigations carried out in this blog. The letter below, from Congressman Carlos Ramos (same one who made public the $29 billion hole in FONDEN), addresses some of the issues about the contract between Gemalto and a dodgy Cuban intermediary without track record, for the provision of electronic IDs to Venezuela.
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