Censorship: Derwick Associates Style

London - After regrettable decisions by PJ Media and the Daily Caller to self-censor my findings on Derwick Associates having retained ACU Chairman Al Cardenas's law firm as legal counsel, I thought fitting to leave a record here of threat letters sent by Hector Torres, on behalf of Derwick Associates, to bloggers and journalists. For some reason, Torres's Venezuelan clients think that they are above and beyond legitimate criticism, they think they can pocket millions of dollars of public money and no one, nowhere has the right to question their actions. Think again...




To Cesar Batiz, whose gmail account appears to have been hacked this week, Torres sent (in English) the following communication:

Dear Mr. Batiz,

We represent plaintiffs Derwick Associates Corporation ("Derwick"), and its two founders, Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez and Pedro Trebbau Lopez, in an action currently pending in the Circuit Court of Florida against defendants Oscar Garcia Mendoza, Venezolano De Credito, S.A., Banco Universal, Rafael Alfonzo Hernandez and John Does 1-10 (together, "Defendants") (the "Action").  A copy of the Complaint filed in the Action is attached to this e-mail for your reference.

I am writing in further response to your e-mail yesterday afternoon to Domingo Guzman Lopez of Derwick. 

As noted by Mr. Guzman, you clearly are misinformed with respect to purported investigations concerning Derwick by various United States government agencies.  First, Derwick can declare categorically that no agency of the U.S. government, including the FBI, the Department of State, the Treasury Department or Homeland Security has requested any information from Derwick nor, to our knowledge, is there any basis for the assertion that you appear -- mistakenly -- to accept as fact, that one or more of those agencies have made any inquiries about Derwick, its founders or its operations.  To the contrary, as alleged in the Complaint, the Defendants in the Action have engaged in a malicious campaign to defame Derwick and its founders and it appears that any claim concerning such investigations by the U.S. authorities is merely another component of that defamation campaign. 

We are certain that if you examine the basis for your assertion concerning such an investigation, you will learn that the source is someone affiliated or working in conjunction with one or more of the Defendants in the Action.  Some of the proxies that are being used by those Defendants include, among others, Alek Boyd. 

Moreover, as you certainly know, disseminating an assertion that Derwick is under investigation by U.S. authorities is an extremely serious matter that could cause significant, irreparable harm to Derwick's reputation and business. Accordingly, we request that you disclose the source of your information so we can address this issue directly.

Further, as you know, Derwick has responded directly to your e-mails and remains more than willing to respond to any reasonable questions you may have concerning its operations.   

Thank you for your anticipated courtesy and cooperation.

Very truly yours,

Hector Torres

It can reasonably be concluded by emails to me, that the Daily Caller was also threatened with legal action. At the very least, that's five instance where Derwick Associates have sent menacing communications to bloggers and journalists, in a clear attempt to censor any and all criticism about its illegal activities in Venezuela.

In a coming article, I shall be exposing the recurrent professional relations between Al Cardenas, the alleged dyed-in-the-wool Republican, and the worse of Venezuela's Bolibourgeois criminals.