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A little over a month after the U.S government executed Operation Southern Spear, snatching Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores and forcing the remaining chavista criminal bosses to obey and follow further instructions from Washington, Venezuela's democratic future remains uncertain. The question of elections has been met with evasive answers from nearly all U.S. officials involved. It is useful however to keep tabs on what has happened in some fronts since January 3rd, a flurry of activity in criminal investigations involving chavismo facilitators being one of the most important.
Two days after the Caracas raid, Italian authorities arrested Francisco D'Agostino, known these days as Jeffrey Epstein's Venezuelan connection. A long time topic of research for this site, D'Agostino celebrated defeating a lawsuit, in which he was accused among other things of being Alejandro Betancourt's partner, by sending an email to a bunch of his "Dear Friends", Epstein among them (D'Agostino did write to Epstein specifically stating that "Betancourt was his business partner").
In another email, D'Agostino sends a list of names that could meet with Epstein during a potential trip to Caracas. Betancourt is only the third name, after Baldo Sanso and Henry Ramos Allup.
Other emails include advise on which Venezuelan / PDVSA bonds Epstein should invest in, proposals related to oil investments (Lago Cinco in Maracaibo), commentary on how much D'Agostino loved to visit Epstein's island (with a cryptic referrence to "Jane, the water gazelle..."), organising meetings in NY, the island (LSJ), Caracas and Paris, and thanking Epstein for intros to Shaher Abdulhak, who was being pitched some kind of oil concession by D'Agostino, Betancourt, and Betancourt's CFO Orlando Alvarado.
D'Agostino was freed shortly after his arrest due to prison conditions in Venezuela (where he is wanted).
In Switzerland, authorities published a list of 37 names associated with rampant corruption in Venezuela whose assets and bank accounts have been frozen. This also happened on January 5th, same day of D'Agostino's arrest. Money laundering on an epic scale (billions) has taken place through Swiss banks and Switzerland's authorities have maintained throughout a completely lenient stance with regards to illicit funds originating in Venezuela. D'Agostino's partner (Betancourt) is on the list, and so is Rafael Ramirez, former CEO of PDVSA. Worth bearing in mind that D'Agostino was offering Epstein access to Ramirez through the latter's brother in law (Baldo Sanso). It remains hard to explain how can Ramirez still live in Rome without being arrested. Ramirez singlehandedly bankrupted PDVSA and was directly involved in all of its largests corruption schemes, some of which included both D'Agostino and Betancourt.
Untangling a criminal enterprise that has controlled a country and its vast resources for over a quarter of a century is not something that has a quick and easy solution. While Delcy Rodriguez hands over Alex Saab and Raul Gorrin, Venezuela is overall a law enforcement problem, rather than a political one. This is why U.S. officials are so adamant to put dates to elections, or constrain themselves to a timed agenda. They know that their Venezuelan partners are deeply entangled in criminal activities. Talk of elections, when the criminality that destroyed Venezuela remains largely intact, is a moot point in our opinion. Lots of facilitators like D'Agostino, who has operated with total ease between top levels of opposition, finance and chavismo, have got to be picked up and call to account before any considerations are given to democracy. No democracy can be sustainable when such elements and their immense wealth and infuence are free to do what they please in a country as corrupt as Venezuela. The administration of President Donald Trump seems to be aware of the problem and the U.S. Federal Agencies have all pretty much gotten a memo demanding immediate action, but it will take time and nobody can realistically say how long.
