25 November 2009

Smartmatic a Dutch company?

News don't get anymore surreal than this: Mexico has just granted a $23 million contract to Smartmatic, which is now meant to be a Dutch company, to provide biometric technology needed to produce ID cards. To be frank, I am puzzled at the commercial ability of Antonio Mugica. He seems to share the 'business acumen' of Ricardo Fernandez Barrueco, mind individuals that only a decade ago couldn't afford a roll of toilet paper being awarded now contracts worth millions of dollars everywhere. For the Mexican contract comes after the Filipino one, where Smartmatic was awarded $150 million.

But what strikes as completely ignorant is how Mexican media are describing Smartmatic as a Dutch company, when it is public knowledge that the company decided to dispose of Sequoia, and obstruct a CFIUS investigation into its convoluted ownership structure, after its connections to the Venezuelan regime were exposed. To be certain, Smartmatic is as Dutch as Hugo Chavez. And to go a bit further, Smartmatic is yet to run the first truly transparent and problem-free election -only field in which the corporation does have a record.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Wao.... What amazing imagination you have. Instead of writing about this, you should write for Hollywood. For sure by doing this, you will make a lot of money because no matter what you say if its true or false.
In real life it maters if you lie as you do.
Follow my advise to let God you to let you get in to heaven....

AB said...

Amazing imagination you say Victor? Where? What have I written which is not supported by publicly available evidence? Do you want to tell us, perhaps, the identity of the Dutch owners of Smartmatic? Or why does Mugica need such a convoluted ownership structure? Or, even better, why did Smartmatic decided to dispose of Sequoia, instead of coming clean about who owns the joint?

It does matter in real life, I keep getting queries about Smartmatic from Mexico, the Philippines, etc. I'll give an unsolicited piece of advice: come out of the closet and behave like a proper company, or feed conspiracy theories forever more.