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.
Hugo Chavez was a media product. When he got caught in 1992, leading a coup against democratically-elected Carlos Andres Perez, he was allowed to address the nation, live. His call to fellow putschists to depose arms and "por ahora" speech made him a national icon, instantly. Chavez knew, better than any politico in Venezuela, what control of the media meant.
There's a lot of talk in Venezuela these days about whether Edward Snowden is going to end up in Caracas, protected and supported by chavismo. Snowden, already famous worldwide for revealing how the US government spies on its people, said recently that Venezuela had his "gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless..."
Colombia's Ministry of Defence informed today that Roberto Pannunzi, a boss linked to Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafiosi was captured in Bogotá, in a joint operation between Colombia's Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Colombia's Ministry of Defence states in its report that Pannunzi identified himself with afake Venezuelan ID -on the name of Silvano Martino- when arrested in a shopping mall in the north of Bogotá.
Nearly all reports written on the topic since have questioned Nicaragua's choice of partner: a Chinese individual called Wang Jing. More from the BBC: "The Chinese businessman behind a $40bn (£26bn) plan to build a canal through Nicaragua has promised transparency and insisted his project is not a joke."
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