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.
The clemency pardon given to criminal Alex Saab by Joe Biden has riled some people. Their argument is that such thing would had never occurred had Donald Trump been in the White House. They forgot that Trump greenlighted a plan to oust Nicolas Maduro spearheaded by Raul Gorrin, and his National Security Council gave a de facto exemption from prosecution deal to the second most corrupt chavista of all times: Rafael Ramirez.
The Houthis have been in the news recently for their spectacular hijacking of Galaxy Leader cargo vessel in the Red Sea. A known financier of Houthi rebels is Sa’id al-Jamal, described by the U.S.
After a referendum on the question of whether Guyana's territory belongs to Venezuela in which hardly any Venezuelan voter participated, Nicolas Maduro made a series of statements that are causing concern (?) in some places: Venezuela's map has been redrawn to include most of Guyana; PDVSA is to create new divisions that will seek to grant licenses in Guyana's territory to exploit oil & gas; the Venezuelan army -which has been put in "war alert"- is to oversee from a center of operations in Tumeremo that inhabitants of the "reclaimed" area receive Venezuelan citizenship and related docu
Imagine you're someone whose entire life has been devoted to criminal activity (bombings, corruption, misappropriation of public funds, money laundering). Imagine that the country where you did all that becomes unlivable and you emigrate, expatriating the stolen loot. You settle in a new place, where nobody knows you and, more importantly, nobody knows the origin of your "wealth".
RTP Noticias from Portugal posted an article yesterday that claims: "O venezuelano Nervis Villalobos, indicado como estando envolvido no caso de corrupção e branqueamento de capitais nas ligações do Grupo Espírito Santo (GES) à Venezuela, acusou a justiça portuguesa de "atitude persecutória" e ameaçou com um processo." [bold added] Translation: Nervis Villalobos, involved in corruption and
Almost invariably news reports about Venezuela include some statement about oil. It has been claimed and repeated ad nauseam without much evidence that the country has the "world's largest crude reserves". Consequently, when the U.S. Treasury relaxed some of the sanctions in mid October, a cacophony of oil and finance experts threw caution to the wind, declaring that the worst had passed and production would be ramped up. This clearly ignores the fact that Venezuela is not Saudi Arabia.
Canaima Finance Limited. That is, according to a criminal probe led in Portugal by prosecutor Olga Barata, the shell in which Rafael Ramirez got €47,831,557 from a slush fund to make bribe payments created by Ricardo Salgado (Banco Espirito Santo - BES). Luis Rosa from El Observador was given access to the prosecution files and has the full report.
The Washington Post published an editorial yesterday that concludes: "Whether Mr. Maduro now makes way for a truly competitive political process, or just collects oil revenue and pays lip service to democracy, will depend first on Mr. Maduro, but, second, on whether the opposition, Venezuelan civil society and the United States hold him to his commitments.
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