tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-106598942024-03-07T06:15:31.372+00:00Alek Boyd"He who surrenders his intellect to that of other, for the sake of an ideology, creed or belief, commits the supreme act of denying its own self."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger487125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-30446604106294898882020-07-28T14:12:00.000+00:002020-07-28T14:35:06.769+00:00Will Rafael Ramirez escape Banca Privada D'Andorra's money laundering evidence?<div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item">
Got a phone call the other day from <a href="https://www.elpublique.me/2020/07/periodista-ricard-poy-presenta-el-libro.html">Ricard Poy, a very good source in all things Andorra</a>,
to tell me that his book, "Las Siete Plagas de BPA", was published.
This is great news, as I have known the fierce opposition there's been
for Ricard's book, not least from constraints imposed by his former
employer (Diari d'Andorra), and from the Cierco brothers (money
launderers that owned Banca Privada d'Andorra - BPA). The book, which I
find tremendously enjoying, is a chronicle based on the criminal probe
about the money laundering scheme set up by the Ciercos at BPA, to
service Diego Salazar, Nervis Villalobos, Javier Alvarado, Eudomario
Carruyo, Carmelo Urdaneta Aqui, Rocio Maneiro, et al in looting PDVSA
out of billions with the ever ready approval and assistance of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200612040238/https://infodio.com/es" target="_blank">Rafael Ramirez</a>.<br />
<br />
The trouble for Ramirez is that the book, and criminal case file that
underpins it, are now in the public domain. This site will make sure
that it is seen far and wide and gets the attention needed, above all by
those who are already conducting criminal probes into PDVSA's multi
billion dollar money laundering schemes in different jurisdictions.<br />
<br />
If that were the only case of Ramirez's malfeasance, perhaps he would
get out if it scot-free. But Ramirez is far too deep. Having been both
Minister of Energy and PDVSA's CEO for over a decade makes his
preposterous innocence cries impossible to sustain, and BPA proves it.
Andorra's case has another peculiarity: the corrupt deals that were part
of the Venezuela - China bilateral agreement ($20+ billion) were
structured by Diego Salazar (Ramirez's first cousin), and went through
BPA. Plenty of unseen evidence, such as contracts whereby Chinese cos
undertake to pay Salazar's shells 10% commission of contract amount
purely for getting his cousin Rafael to approve them, will now become
part of Ramirez's CV. Salazar got hundreds of millions, and part of that
went to the man green lighting everything: Rafael Ramirez.<br />
<br />
Ramirez is also the core of criminal probes related to Banco Espirito
Santo, the $4.5 billion laundered through EFG and Compagnie Bancaire
Helvetique, Odebrecht in Venezuela, Derwick Associates, Helsinge... We
are persistently told he cut some kind of deal with American Justice,
but his golden days "hiding" in Rome could soon come to an end.
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-29005468639787840442019-12-27T12:37:00.000+00:002019-12-27T12:39:42.369+00:00Rudy Giuliani: Russian ToolThere's this endless debate about Russian interference in U.S. affairs. To one side of the aisle, Trump only got to the White House thanks to meddling of Putin's operatives, while the other is ever so quick to dismiss conflict of interests of too-close-to-Trump folk. Case in point: Trump's very own lawyer, <strong>Rudy Giuliani</strong>.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="https://www.nelsonmullins.com/people/jon-sale">Jon Sale</a></strong>, one of the stable of "prominent" attorneys retained by Venezuelan thug / London-resident <a href="https://infodio.com/261119/rudy/giuliani/derwick/alejandro/betancourt/russia/fsb"><strong>Alejandro Betancourt</strong></a>, made intros so that Giuliani would visit Betancourt in <strong>El Alamin</strong> hunting pile near Madrid. Point to discuss: <a href="http://infodio.com/261119/rudy/giuliani/derwick/alejandro/betancourt/russia/fsb">Betancourt's direct involvement in, at least, two multi billion dollar probes by the Justice Department (DoJ)</a> that have already placed in wanted status <strong>Francisco Convit</strong> and <strong>Raul Gorrin</strong>, two of Betancourt's criminal associates.<br />
<br />
Giuliani's brief was to lobby the DoJ to obtain a get-out-of-jail card for <a href="http://infodio.com/031119/alejandro/betancourt/operation/money/flight/corruption">Betancourt, over whose head a sealed indictment hangs</a>. The argument: since financial support is given to "interim President" <strong>Juan Guaidó</strong> by Betancourt, he should be spared, as his and Trump's policy vis-a-vis regime change in Venezuela are aligned.<br />
<br />
One must wonder how much of Betancourt's own connection to Russian interests Giuliani knows. One must wonder what understanding do Sale and Giuliani have of KYC and vetting clients.<br />
<br />
On 23 February this year, a desperate email was sent by <strong>Orlando Alvarado</strong> (Betancourt's CFO) to <strong>PDVSA</strong> and <strong>Nynas</strong> top management. In it, Alvarado berated recipients about the fact that Nynas was "playing with fire", owing to a crude cargo that had been returned due to higher-than-acceptable water content: "if national or international press finds that Nynas, a subsidiary of PDVSA, returned a cargo, it could cause irreparable damage to both companies and sadly to Zamora"*, claimed Alvarado.<br />
<br />
Alvarado was acting here as officer of <strong>*Petrozamora</strong>, in short, a JV formed by PDVSA and <strong>Gazprombank Latin America Ventures</strong>, in turn a Dutch shell controlled by Betancourt and "former" <strong>Gazprom</strong> executives <strong>Boris Ivanov</strong> and <strong>Sergei Tagashov</strong>. Both Ivanov and Tagashov spent time as "diplomats" in Washington in the past. Alvarado thought appropriate to CC a lot of people in his email, which led to the leak.<br />
<br />
But it is another individual, <a href="https://infodio.com/160319/fsb/vladimir/anisimov/derwick/venezuela">whose association to Petrozamora was revealed by Alvarado's email</a>, what makes Giuliani's work for Betancourt nothing more than that of a Russian tool: <strong>Vladimir Anisimov</strong>.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HJfJ-Ix1CxlIf1ETbU0lb3kDahn4rKljjt_x8mWERA1ZTseyxibv6agpxKNQTXjcCVWKY-HrrxwKpnhV5fB402nLHO8M3d9AFvAc_2ZYQQAF55H_swltffynOdkoZCRop1R_sw/s1600/vladimir-anisimov-may-2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HJfJ-Ix1CxlIf1ETbU0lb3kDahn4rKljjt_x8mWERA1ZTseyxibv6agpxKNQTXjcCVWKY-HrrxwKpnhV5fB402nLHO8M3d9AFvAc_2ZYQQAF55H_swltffynOdkoZCRop1R_sw/s320/vladimir-anisimov-may-2017.png" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Vladimir Gavrilovich Anisimov</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://vyazovoe.admprohorovka.ru/o-poselenii/gordost-poseleniya/anisimov-vladimir-gavrilovich/"><strong>Vladimir Gavrilovich Anisimov</strong></a> (DoB 27/9/1955, passport 4504339601, pictured May 2017) was one of the acting <strong>FSB</strong> heads that "roled" after the Beslan school massacre. He was deputy head of FSB's internal affairs and one of <strong>Nikolay Patrushev</strong>'s key people. Anisimov was "dismissed" from his FSB post, and moved to "active reserve". He then emerged as head of security for <strong>Igor Kesaev</strong>, and has a number of board position, including one in <strong>High Precision Systems's subsidiary <a href="http://www.zid.ru/eng/">Degtyaryov</a></strong>.<br />
<br />
A Google translate of a profile page, suggest Anisimov served in USSR's army between 1973 - 1977, had involvement in state security in Karelia Republic between 1977 - 1996 (under Patrushev). Since 1996 Anisimov has had different roles within FSB's central command (anti terrorism, protection of state secrets, internal affairs and investigations). Anisimov was appointed FSB Deputy Director in 2002.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://lenta.ru/lib/14163256/">Given the background</a>, Anisimov's involvement in Petrozamora can only have one plausible explaination: an extra set of Putin's eyes in the operation. Consider his past with Patrushev (sanctioned by EU and U.S.), and the latter's current official role in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Patrushev">Russia's Security Council</a>. Consider the murkiness of all the characters involved. Flight records from Air France indicate that on 25th March Anisimov landed in Maracaibo, and was picked up at the airport by Venezuelan intelligence operatives.<br />
<br />
Betancourt, then, is nothing but a Russian tool. As every associate of his, involved in gargantuan corruption. In fact, in the <a href="http://infodio.com/211018/pdvsa/convit/krull/pedro/binaggia/money/laundering">conspirators' list of names involved in Operation Money Flight first posted here in October 2018</a>, number 1 is <strong>Alvaro Ledo</strong>, a PDVSA official and a member of Petrozamora's first board. Betancourt is number 2, Alvarado number 4... PDVSA does not seem to have the slightest bit of a concern, on having an associate copy Russia's FSB into its confidential affairs. Ditto Nynas.<br />
<br />
Betancourt is in bed with all the corrupt officials of PDVSA, all the way to the very top. Betancourt got <strong>Rafael Ramirez</strong> to approve a separate money laundering scheme, <a href="https://infodio.com/es">worth $4.5 billion</a>. The fact that his foray into oil has Anisimov, Ivanov and Tagashov as partners / associates, only confirms the kind of energy business he runs.<br />
<br />
But what of his counsel? What of Jon Sale and Rudy Giuliani? If an independent investigative blogger working on his own can get this information, how could Giuliani possibly justify his work for someone like Betancourt? I'd venture a guess: <a href="http://infodio.com/06122019/rudy/giuliani/alejandro/betancourt/naftogaz/gazprom">Giuliani knew exactly what he was getting into with Betancourt</a>. Giuliani must have known about Betancourt's associations with Russian intelligence. That makes Giuliani, pretty much like his client, a Russian toolUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-16972961762768810412019-08-28T21:35:00.001+00:002019-08-28T21:35:57.492+00:00About Twitter account suspension / Aclaratoria sobre suspensión cuenta Twitter<a href="http://infodio.com/270819/twitter/vanessa/neumann/censorship" target="_blank">First it shut my account</a>, now Twitter is allowing impersonators to propagate #fakenews:<br />
<br />
Didn't even take 24 hours for somebody (NOT ME) to register https://twitter.com/Alek_Boyd_ (I am not going to link to it), and make a bunch of fake claims about me, my website <a href="http://infodio.com/">infodio.com</a>, and my alleged actions to recover my verified Twitter account (<a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd" target="_blank">@alekboyd</a>). I reiterate that I have decided not to seek Twitter's pardon, I will not be begging for a reactivation of my verified account, and I am waiting for Twitter's reply re my data, accumulated there since 2009. I sincerely hope Twitter will at least give me the chance to recover every last bit of content in my timeline.<br />
<br />
To get the latest:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>check <a href="https://infodio.com/" target="_blank">infodio.com</a>;</li>
<li>check this blog;</li>
<li>check <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/</a></li>
<li>check <a href="https://twitter.com/infodi0" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/infodi0</a></li>
</ol>
--------------<br />
<br />
Para quienes han sido engañados por la cuenta @Alek_Boyd_, lean por favor esta aclaratoria:<br />
<br />
<b>Aclaratoria sobre suspensión cuenta @alekboyd en Twitter </b><br />
<br />
Ayer Twitter suspendió mi cuenta <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd">@alekboyd</a>. Ya salió un impostor (NO SOY YO) (https://twitter.com/Alek_Boyd_)
a publicar sandeces de ataques a este sitio desde Singapur, y otras
pendejadas. No estoy solicitando reactivación de mi cuenta de Twitter,
no he registrado ninguna cuenta nueva, aunque estoy usando una llamada <a href="https://twitter.com/infodi0">@infodi0</a>, y no estoy siendo víctima de mayor ataque que no sea el intento de silenciar información sobre corrupción relacionada con <a href="http://infodio.com/270819/twitter/vanessa/neumann/censorship">Alejandro Betancourt, Gustavo Guaidó y Vanessa Neumann</a>.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Si queda alguna duda sobre la autoría de publicaciones con mi nombre, revisar:</b><br />
<ol>
<li><a href="https://infodio.com/" target="_blank">infodio.com</a>;</li>
<li>éste blog;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/infodi0" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/infodi0</a></li>
</ol>
<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1tbdLfHpN1/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Ayer @twitter me suspendió la cuenta. Como estoy en desacuerdo con esa decisión no me molestaré en borrar los tweets que o los bolichicos Derwick, o Vanessa Neumann (Embajadora de Guaidó en Reino Unido) encuentran inapropiados. He pedido a @twitter me devuelvan toda mi data, desde q uso esa plataforma. Espero lo hagan. A quienes siguen interesados en leer lo que publico sobre #corrupción en #Venezuela, y sobre la #sociedaddecómplices, les sugiero visiten https://infodio.com</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alek.boyd/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Alek Boyd</a> (@alek.boyd) on <time datetime="2019-08-28T13:45:52+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Aug 28, 2019 at 6:45am PDT</time></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-2039508322454137392018-08-23T12:01:00.000+00:002018-08-23T12:05:18.610+00:00Matthias Krull / Francisco Convit case dwarfed by Charles Henry de Beaumont's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAx39uGDoES2TXZZl-uImKbPLW4fIEaUYYBeabx6mv5LDMQvt7vUOL480Bs-Pbf3bm3qDpoNzJR5kpqHOEe-nYZNigVlReUltI3A5P0PKduR7wzaFbe_Uov-OY02Vbk37idAhRSg/s1600/krull-gorrin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="1600" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAx39uGDoES2TXZZl-uImKbPLW4fIEaUYYBeabx6mv5LDMQvt7vUOL480Bs-Pbf3bm3qDpoNzJR5kpqHOEe-nYZNigVlReUltI3A5P0PKduR7wzaFbe_Uov-OY02Vbk37idAhRSg/s640/krull-gorrin.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There’s quite a lot of chatter in law enforcement / judicial circles about <a href="http://infodio.com/docs/13_factual_proffer.pdf" target="_blank">Matthias Krull, Francisco Convit & un-named conspirators</a>. PDVSA is, as usual, the centre of everything. Krull, who has already pleaded <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-swiss-bank-executive-pleads-guilty-role-billion-dollar-international-money-laundering" target="_blank">guilty</a>, knows things about <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CtB2D004HjHmKYY3kD4_WvrO-ZGJzmsi" target="_blank">Raul Gorrin’s (Conspirator 7) “other businesses”</a>. But that’s not all. Let us recall that PDVSA was hit with an identical -<a href="http://infodio.com/021115/money/laundering/pdvsa/ramirez/villalobos/oberto/wallis/bpa" target="_blank">but substantially larger ($4 billion)</a>- scheme, set up by Conspirator 2 in Krull’s case (partner of Convit, Alejandro Betancourt) with Rafael Ramirez, Luis Oberto and brother Ignacio. <br />
<br />
The DoJ is sitting on a mountain of evidence from <b>Charles Henry de Beaumont</b>, a Krull-style “banker” tasked by various Venezuelan “entrepreneurs” to launder billions of dollars. As in the Krull / Convit case, Swiss banks were used (Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique, EFG), as well as Austria’s Meinl bank. Betancourt is refusing to provide comments on the record on involvement, due to his alleged ongoing collaboration with DoJ.<br />
<br />
Sources report also that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has started subpoenaing people associated to PDVSA Litigation Trust. That will open another can of worms, for both defendants and plaintiff are nothing but enablers of vast corruption. Allegedly, DoJ officials visited Switzerland recently, with the purpose of getting all the information related to PDVSA’s criminal complaint, filed by Gueric Canonica (<a href="http://infodio.com/120718/pdvsa/switzerland/criminal/helsinge/droz/canonica/ruperti" target="_blank">Wilmer Ruperti’s lawyer</a>) with former-colleague-cum-prosecutor Johan Droz. Ruperti is also having trouble answering requests for comments owing to medical issues.<br />
<br />
That DoJ has taken on the case is a blessing, really. Maybe <a href="http://infodio.com/090718/conoco/lawsuit/pdvsa/litigation/trust" target="_blank">Conoco’s action against David Boies & co</a> had something to do with it. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-54779181984190358482018-06-01T10:57:00.001+00:002018-06-01T12:19:47.572+00:00La corrupción de Raul Gorrin y Luisa Ortega Diaz<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4UPjJFEAlYG_nMKHgRTWDuZ3PEbAFrxcDtp2WzhNj6ENz68TK-99EWBjwvIby86evIp5-eyF2wPM9urrqkM_8HIe9FL1TbEf6Qstf8yLkMTbC8NFswFL4fhaag9QFZDnvTYJIA/s1600/gorrin-andradejr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1200" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4UPjJFEAlYG_nMKHgRTWDuZ3PEbAFrxcDtp2WzhNj6ENz68TK-99EWBjwvIby86evIp5-eyF2wPM9urrqkM_8HIe9FL1TbEf6Qstf8yLkMTbC8NFswFL4fhaag9QFZDnvTYJIA/s200/gorrin-andradejr.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Emmanuel Andrade y Raul Gorrín</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lo de <b>RAUL ANTONIO DE LA SANTISIMA TRINIDAD GORRIN BELISARIO (alias </b><b><b>Raul Gorrín </b>Ced. 8.682.996)</b>, para ser franco, era un tema pendiente. El problema en Venezuela es que hay tanta corrupción, que es humanamente imposible estar al tanto de todos los casos. De Raul Gorrín me habían hablado, pero nunca había visto pruebas, documentos, o evidencia de los guisos en los que estaba metido este hampón.<br />
<br />
Eso cambió hace pocos días, <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CtB2D004HjHmKYY3kD4_WvrO-ZGJzmsi?usp=sharing" target="_blank">cuando recibí una parte de un archivo</a>, que mantenía la fiscal <b>Luisa Ortega Diaz</b> bien encaletado en su oficina, sobre las actividades financieras de Raul Gorrín con la Oficina del Tesoro de Venezuela, léase Alejandro Andrade y compañía.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclYKEaYUX19YL0EWNw0ERPsMvKtBrQwOFe77gUhjhCflDEovjt3HotyNDuwGrqQyAJN5TW4fjq5ckPAef1C-zceJX-_AUSgR3sw-ELlRwt1IpvTbdT89Y_50h5LVKMXd9rNJlaA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+09.55.36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="591" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclYKEaYUX19YL0EWNw0ERPsMvKtBrQwOFe77gUhjhCflDEovjt3HotyNDuwGrqQyAJN5TW4fjq5ckPAef1C-zceJX-_AUSgR3sw-ELlRwt1IpvTbdT89Y_50h5LVKMXd9rNJlaA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+09.55.36.png" /> </a></div>
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Resulta que Raul Gorrín era uno de los operadores financieros preferidos de Alejandro Andrade, quien, en su posición de dizque Tesorero de la Nación, monto un mega guiso con Gorrín. Si entendí bien los documentos que Luisa Ortega decidió engavetar, el mecanismo de la Oficina del Tesoro era el siguiente:</div>
<ol>
<li>Ordenes de compra de Bonos del Tesoro de Gran Bretaña, denominados en Libras Esterlinas;</li>
<li>El monto en Libras Esterlinas era convertido a Dólares, por la Oficina del Tesoro, a 1,62 Bolívares x Dólar;</li>
<li>El monto en Dólares era reflejado en los balances de la Oficina del Tesoro a razón de 4,30 Bolívares x Dólar;</li>
<li>Gorrín vendía en el mercado negro, a más de 9 Bolívares x Dólar, los Dólares que le asignaba Andrade a través de la Oficina del Tesoro;</li>
<li>Gorrín debía pagar a la Oficina del Tesoro el equivalente en Bolívares del monto asignado en Dólares;</li>
<li>Gorrín hacia los pagos a la Oficina del Tesoro a través de cuentas en Banplus y el Banco Industrial de Venezuela.</li>
</ol>
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Pongamos un ejemplo: </div>
<ul>
<li>un bono por 100 millones de Libras Esterlinas se convierte en 162 millones de Dólares; </li>
<li>la Oficina del Tesoro refleja en su balance 696.000.000 millones de Bolívares ($1 = 4,30 Bs) que Gorrín tiene que pagar; </li>
<li>los 162 millones de Dólares asignados a Gorrín son vendidos en el mercado negro a 9 Bolívares x Dólar; </li>
<li>Gorrín sólo necesitaba vender 77 millones de Dólares (a 9 Bs x Dólar) para recuperar los 696 millones de Bolívares que debía pagar;<br /> </li>
<li>Gorrín se queda con el restante, es decir $162.000.000 - $77.000.000 = $85.000.000, y lo reparte con sus panas.</li>
</ul>
Según documentos de la fiscalía Gorrín usaba empresas de maletín (Halifax Group C.A., Comercializadora Servinvest C.A., Inversiones Integrales Totalgroup C.A., Multiset Trade C.A., Grupo Hancock C.A., e Integrados Whymper C.A.) para éste esquema de corrupción.<br />
<br />
La Tesorería adquirió 2.880.000.000 de Libras Esterlinas en bonos entre mayo de 2011 y abril de 2013. La Fiscalía estima que Gorrín se habría metido 1.450.000.000 de Dólares.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmuD8HzYO_MIelBUfOiq_AUbw_luIgLPPEwjgM_QC1NVoLrGDe3u7nPq_fEyT3q5hZe0rNxOnh1au_-FicGiIRaU8Y9rY9xQuQqmZItNeqoCWTjbDVdWFvxE2tCZ6euH2S7BqkA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+10.52.17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmuD8HzYO_MIelBUfOiq_AUbw_luIgLPPEwjgM_QC1NVoLrGDe3u7nPq_fEyT3q5hZe0rNxOnh1au_-FicGiIRaU8Y9rY9xQuQqmZItNeqoCWTjbDVdWFvxE2tCZ6euH2S7BqkA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+10.52.17.png" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LzsYu2AZaMyJjaXmYYWp9IMTD04WC-MRpQAoKvo1vQ5IgCAdPtI9UvRNaMUV5wuWzYaAqMx-loND0Pyonhcr-p3b-W-dtMFYTWrtYMkQTUEWgY8Vtj7Jbd-oTvMRsCznhSQw4w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+10.52.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7LzsYu2AZaMyJjaXmYYWp9IMTD04WC-MRpQAoKvo1vQ5IgCAdPtI9UvRNaMUV5wuWzYaAqMx-loND0Pyonhcr-p3b-W-dtMFYTWrtYMkQTUEWgY8Vtj7Jbd-oTvMRsCznhSQw4w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-06-01+at+10.52.39.png" /> </a></div>
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Por qué Luisa Ortega Diaz no investigó este caso? Muy sencillo, por que es socia de Gorrín. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FIkT5FR0CIs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FIkT5FR0CIs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Gorrín es parte de una banda, llamada "los enanos", formada por el difunto Danilo Anderson, Mariano Diaz, Gustavo Perdomo y otros. Esta banda logró posicionarse en los tribunales y, mucho antes de hacerse multimillonarios, vendían protección judicial. Es decir, quien tuviera algun caso abierto en tribunales / fiscalía / Ministerio Público pagaba a estos bichos para que dichos casos fueran engavetados o cerrados. Es así como Gorrín establece relación con German Ferrer, esposo de Luisa Ortega Diaz, y ello explica cómo Ortega Diaz puede mantener el estilo de vida que mantiene, aun en el exterior.</div>
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Gorrín, a través de Ferrer, protegió por ejemplo a los bolichicos de Derwick Associates durante años. Gorrín ha fraguado también muy buena relación con Maikel Moreno, el hampón al frente del Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, quien también actúa como protector de Derwick Associates.</div>
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Fuentes informan que la relación comercial de Gorrín con el <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/1001547237200224258" target="_blank">banco suizo Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique (CBH)</a> se estableció gracias a su ex-socio Luis Oberto y a los bolichicos de Derwick Associates, todos ellos clientes de CBH a través de Joseph Benhamou y Charles Henry de Beaumont.</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="es">
Una de las cuentas controladas por <a href="https://twitter.com/RaulGorrinB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RaulGorrinB</a> en Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique: depósitos por 2.914.655.249 dólares... y <a href="https://twitter.com/lortegadiaz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lortegadiaz</a>? Contando las comisiones... <a href="https://t.co/FGM7OmaOPq">pic.twitter.com/FGM7OmaOPq</a></div>
— alek boyd (@alekboyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/1001547237200224258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">29 May 2018</a></blockquote>
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Gorrín
no sólo movió fondos a través de CBH, otro conocido banco suizo EFG
Bank, también participó en el guiso así como HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan
Stanley, Citibank, UBS, Bank of China, Wells Fargo, Totalbank Curaçao,
BOI Bank (Victor Vargas), Davos Bank (David Osío), CBA Bank & Trust
(Aristides Maza Tirado), Banplus (Diego Ricol Freyre) y Banco Industrial
de Venezuela. Por supuesto que ningún banco cuestionó origen de los
fondos que transfería Gorrín. Los dineros de la corrupción de Venezuela
son bienvenidos en toda la banca. <br />
<br />
Entre las transferencias /
pagos que Gorrín hizo desde CBH, uno encuentra perlas como Profit Corporation, una de las empresa de Samark Lopez, el testaferro de
Tareck el Aissami; pagos a Oscar Schemel, a Gustavo Arroyo, a Karina
Rosenberg, a Leocenis Garcia, a Teresina Giustiniano, a Gustavo Suriani
Perez, a Juan Bravo, etc. </div>
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Luego
hay evidencia de pagos a establos, Rontos Racing Stable, o compras de
articulos de equitación a Dietmar Gugler u Olaf Petersen (presumo que
para congraciarse con Emannuel Andrade), y transferencias a cientos de
empresas en Venezuela, Panama, España, EEUU... controladas por los
clientes de Gorrín.<br />
<br />
Lo de la compra de Globovisión y Seguros la Vitalicia son asuntos menores frente a lo hecho con Andrade en la Tesorería. El Banco Industrial de Venezuela, institución del estado intervenida en 2009, no puso ni una traba. Su director Rodolfo Porro Aletti, quien venía de desempeñarse como jefe de la junta interventora, tampoco vio nada sospechoso. Es decir, instituciones del estado, bajo el control absoluto del chavismo, guisaron a manos llenas con Gorrín y ni el Ministerio Público, ni la Contraloría, ni la Procuradoría, ni la supuesta adalid contra la corrupción hicieron nada.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-4660176877282136862017-12-08T14:05:00.002+00:002017-12-08T14:38:28.429+00:00Setting the record straight on Rafael Ramirez's corruption at PDVSA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxURwQDRrbEbQVfN-klTKmIjliHSXa9MYhyphenhyphenbz0GeM6bNEmSTwQX1iLVyLCmGibUdON1v_g_SJIP5rDZLVAQVYQPN7V94LEDEPeOnPhhQ-jxeBp4HFTBBAwX9akzA4QDY6W22y_lg/s1600/rafael-ramirez-pdvsa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="463" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxURwQDRrbEbQVfN-klTKmIjliHSXa9MYhyphenhyphenbz0GeM6bNEmSTwQX1iLVyLCmGibUdON1v_g_SJIP5rDZLVAQVYQPN7V94LEDEPeOnPhhQ-jxeBp4HFTBBAwX9akzA4QDY6W22y_lg/s320/rafael-ramirez-pdvsa.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Rafael Ramirez</b>. Venezuela's oil minister between 2002 and 2014. CEO of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) between 2004 and 2014. During his tenure in <b>PDVSA</b>, <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/930068347550658561" target="_blank">the company's <b>turnover</b> was <b>1,246 trillion USD</b>, as per own figures "audited" by KPMG</a>.<br />
<br />
1,246 trillion USD worth of income, in a country of about 30 million people. Ramirez claimed, for the first time ever as far as I am aware, that <a href="http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-42261044" target="_blank">during his tenure PDVSA handed 480 billion USD to the Venezuelan State</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>1,246 - 480 = 766 billion USD.</b><br />
<br />
By way of comparison, Ramirez's claim to have handed over 480 billion USD leaves an amount that exceeds the TARP bailout.<br />
<br />
Venezuela is on the brink of default, nursing around 150 billion USD worth of debt. Venezuela's reserves are under 10 billion USD. PDVSA's oil production is reported to have fallen below 2MPD.<br />
<br />
So where's the money?<br />
<br />
Andorra's GDP is 3.2 billion USD. <a href="http://infodio.com/021115/money/laundering/pdvsa/ramirez/villalobos/oberto/wallis/bpa" target="_blank">Close associates of Ramirez misappropriated 4.2 billion USD using Banca Privada D'Andorra</a>, in just one deal.<br />
<br />
PDVSA granted over 30 billion USD in contracts between 2012 and 2015: 20% of that went to non-existing companies, while <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/pdvsa-over-30bn-awarded-to-contractors-between-2012-2015-4a3a432f5cc5" target="_blank">some of the rest was granted -without bidding- to close associates of Ramirez</a>.<br />
<br />
New York's Southern District's Attorney's Office has exposed Fidel Ramirez (brother of Ramirez) as <a href="http://infodio.com/091117/rafael/ramirez/pdvsa/corruption/kct/doj/derwick" target="_blank">bribe recipient in energy related corrupt practices approved by Ramirez</a>.<br />
<br />
Roberto Rincon, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/fcpa/cases/rincon" target="_blank">another corrupt businessman associated to Ramirez</a>, was indicted for his participation in a corrupt scheme that cost PDVSA over 1 billion USD.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/derwick-associates-paid-bribes-venezuela.html" target="_blank">Nervis Villalobos, a trusted lieutenant of Ramirez</a>, sits in a cell in Spain for his participation in <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-bc-lt--spain--venezuela-ex-officials-arrested-20171026-story.html" target="_blank">bribe payments and procurement corruption associated to PDVSA</a>.<br />
<br />
Ramirez is also directly involved, through Villalobos, in granting <a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/bpa-nervis-villalobos-derwick-associates.html" target="_blank">no-bid contracts to Derwick Associates</a>.<br />
<br />
Diego Salazar (first cousin of Ramirez) was arrested in Venezuela for his participation in a <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-venezuela-oil-salazar/venezuela-arrests-relative-of-powerful-ex-oil-boss-ramirez-in-graft-probe-idUKKBN1DW00D" target="_blank">multimillion dollar graft scheme related to PDVSA's insurance policies</a>.<br />
<br />
Jesus Enrique Luongo (cousin of Ramirez and PDVSA's Refining VP) was <a href="http://efectococuyo.com/politica/detienen-en-maiquetia-a-jose-enrique-luongo-por-el-caso-andorra" target="_blank">arrested when trying to board a plane in Caracas' international airport</a> for his involvement in Salazar's insurance schemes.<br />
<br />
Balso Sanso (Ramirez's brother in law) was given an extra official role negotiating, on PDVSA's behalf, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-analysis/venezuela-bid-has-big-risks-rewards-for-oil-majors-idUSTRE60S5D320100129" target="_blank">bidding processes related to Orinoco's oil belt</a>.<br />
<br />
Wilmer Ruperti, a parvenu businessman involved in shipping schemes with PDVSA, <a href="http://infodio.com/040214/who/is/wilmer/ruperti" target="_blank">claimed in court documents that Ramirez personally approved his corrupt enterprise</a>.<br />
<br />
Eudomario Carruyo (former PDVSA's VP of Finance) is involved -as it will be exposed soon- in Salazar's corruption ring centered in Andorra, and was integral in a <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=13303&ArticleId=389155" target="_blank">500 million USD Ponzi scheme involving PDVSA's workers' pension funds</a>.<br />
<br />
Ramirez, along with Eulogio del Pino (arrested) and Jose Luis Parada (wanted & on the run), was <a href="http://www.petroleumworld.com/issues17012301.htm" target="_blank">instrumental in the Aban Pearl / Petro Saudi scandal</a>. The Pantin brothers, <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/688739835872440320" target="_blank">recipients of over 1 billion USD worth of no-bid contracts under Ramirez's tenure</a>, acted as facilitators.<br />
<br />
Ramirez was key in <a href="http://infodio.com/181013/pastor/maldonado/williams/fraud" target="_blank">gifting Williams F1 Team over 100 million USD</a> so that Pastor Maldonado could play car racer.<br />
<br />
It is estimated that Ramirez oversaw transfer of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-27/as-venezuela-declines-so-does-its-latin-american-influence" target="_blank">over 20 billion USD in oil shipments</a>, to Cuba and other pariah states in the Caribbean basin, through Petro Caribe.<br />
<br />
ALBANISA, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article184631388.html" target="_blank">another scam set up on Ramirez's watch between PDVSA and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega</a>, amounted to 3.5 billion USD, or some<a href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2016/09/26/economia/2106297-deuda-petrolera-con-venezuela-amenaza-con-descarrilar-las-finanzas" target="_blank"> 27% of Nicaragua's GDP as of 2015</a>. <br />
<br />
The above are just some of the known scandals directly touching Ramirez. As he said recently, PDVSA is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-42261044" target="_blank">"a 234 companies holding" that "grants over 100,000" contracts as a matter of regular practice</a>. His claims to have never been involved in corruption though, amount to little else than flat-earth syndrome.<br />
<br />
Anyone who's been following Venezuela's monumental graft knows that almost all roads lead to Ramirez. Joint ministerial oversight and executive power of Venezuela's only cash cow leave Ramirez without recourse, or defence. His position is utterly untenable. As all Venezuelan thugs, he is thinking about leveraging vast amounts of incriminating evidence, accumulated and collected over the years, to free himself from impending charges in Venezuela. Be that as it may, there are many close collaborators, who possess untold amounts of equally incriminating material about Ramirez, currently sitting in jails far from chavismo's reach and cooperating with law enforcement.<br />
<br />
That will be Ramirez's undoing. Is not the farcical Venezuelan Attorney General, or a Nicolas Maduro purge he needs to fear: it is Villaobos, Reiter, Oberto, Convit, Kaufmann, Isea, Andrade, Alvarado, de Leon, Gill, Vargas, D'Agostino... Probes in Spain, Andorra, Switzerland, criminal investigations by various Federal Agencies, that, and not some hare-brained chavista vendetta, is what will expose Ramirez as the man at the head of the world's largest ever corruption scandal. <b>1,246 trillion USD...</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-6142460560792769712017-10-31T17:48:00.000+00:002017-11-03T12:20:09.607+00:00Meet Steve Levine Fusion GPS apologist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJzAEDEj_SdqOQP3okoDyHTW4nozcraYQEp_UlfbKVCLfRvFvwTvpdJ559vfqkim0J6cmb8J7FEiWDgxq4JaFMJsLShT5wrLh-P24rkMVZB0t26qMUn7vR1X3MIKNYp6FmR1R-w/s1600/steve-levine-fusiongps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1459" data-original-width="1207" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJzAEDEj_SdqOQP3okoDyHTW4nozcraYQEp_UlfbKVCLfRvFvwTvpdJ559vfqkim0J6cmb8J7FEiWDgxq4JaFMJsLShT5wrLh-P24rkMVZB0t26qMUn7vR1X3MIKNYp6FmR1R-w/s320/steve-levine-fusiongps.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
Meet Steve Levine, according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/community/stevelevine" target="_blank">Axios.com</a> "eager to hear from you at steve@axios.com."<br />
<br />
Not so eager though, when it comes to explaining the kind of work his mates at Fusion GPS have done in Venezuela. In a recent article, LeVine <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-dossier-fusion-gps-reporters-2502877053.html" target="_blank">paints a rosy picture of Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch</a>, two of the three <strike>'reporters'</strike> <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117674837248471543" target="_blank">con artists</a> behind bespoke, and highly lucrative, smear campaigns.<br />
<br />
It was this bit of LeVine's hagiography about Fusion GPS that caught my attention:<br />
<br />
"<i>They are seriously savvy at finding extremely hard-to-locate — and even more difficult to understand and contextualize — documents and other intelligence on globally powerful people and organizations.</i>"<br />
<br />
Seriously savy people know that Venezuela is, easily, America's most corrupt country. Seriously savy people know who Hugo Chavez is, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/19/venezuelan-presidents-relatives-guilty-in-us-cocaine-trial" target="_blank">who his succesor (Nicolas Maduro) is.</a> Seriously savy people know the kind of mess Venezuela is in as a result of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/26/nicolas-maduro-donald-trump-venezuela-hunger" target="_blank">chavismo's policies</a>. Seriously savy people also know that in Venezuela millions of dollars worth of procurement contracts are, as a matter of course, <a href="https://elpais.com/economia/2017/09/25/actualidad/1506360545_164506.html" target="_blank">granted to whoever offers contracting bodies the biggest bribe</a>.<br />
<br />
Seriouly savy people, those who know how to use PACER, also know this thing called Google. It is, for seriously, and not so seriously, savy people, the first port of call nowadays when it comes to <a href="https://goo.gl/jexgWE" target="_blank">establishing bona fides</a>.<br />
<br />
So what to say about involvement of LeVine's "seriously savy" Fusion GPS friends with <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/alejandro-betancourt-the-perfect-kleptocrat-72081e075aa2" target="_blank">Venezuela's Derwick Associates</a>? Mind you, when Fusion GPS started working for Derwick, a simple Google search would have returned results about rampant corruption related to a multibillion dollar swindle in procurement of power plants in Venezuela.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvFXA6nAxhhyz6-7OxI1ldv7DCY4hHUmR4KpvjCQ8UDJLN5jM1ht8jYD4x_DoXKgwEzwn17TCIDwAfsT4mUQkC_KfdDTgU-4xzzXcyYk94m6zIpBWeUqA2y3LPQN5RYn9cKCwog/s1600/image1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1392" data-original-width="1229" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQvFXA6nAxhhyz6-7OxI1ldv7DCY4hHUmR4KpvjCQ8UDJLN5jM1ht8jYD4x_DoXKgwEzwn17TCIDwAfsT4mUQkC_KfdDTgU-4xzzXcyYk94m6zIpBWeUqA2y3LPQN5RYn9cKCwog/s320/image1.jpeg" width="282" /></a></div>
So I confronted <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/924944682420981761" target="_blank">LeVine's cretinous arguments on Twitter</a>, to which he replied "Link to evidence that Fusion carried out what you describe."<br />
<br />
I must pause here, and explain the evidence I provided. <a href="http://infodio.com/20170114/fusion/gps/derwick/associates/venezuela/corruption" target="_blank">Fusion's Peter Fritsch travelled to Caracas</a>, in July 2014, with <a href="http://www.lbkmlaw.com/attorneys-Adam-Kaufmann.html" target="_blank">Adam Kaufmann</a>. The purpose of the trip was to block further reporting from the Wall Street Journal into Derwick's corruption in Venezuela.<br />
<br />
I was told by sources present at the Caracas meeting that Derwick, assisted by Fritsch and Kaufmann, spent an inordinate amount of time smearing me, and my work. Why my work? Because of <a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/francisco-convit-incriminates-derwick.html" target="_blank">my investigations into Derwick Associates</a>.<br />
<br />
When they could a word in, Derwick Associates were asked by Wall Street Journal reporters whether they would go on record with their allegations against me. Derwick refused. Derwick execs were also asked to provide official evidence proving procurement contracts granted resulted after open, fair and competitive bidding. Derwick failed to do so. It failed then, in July 2014, and it has done ever since whenever questions about their corrupt ways are asked. Since that encounter in Caracas, <a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/875980562451845120" target="_blank">I have published official evidence of corruption in procurement contracts granted to Derwick</a>.<br />
<br />
My apartment, in London, <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/ruin-is-all-fusion-gps-deserves-71b8a1b09c91" target="_blank">was broken into in November 2014</a>. Coincidence? Fusion GPS knew the kind of information I had about them in August 2014:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>From: Thomas Catan <tcatan@fusiongps.com><br />Subject: Re: Peter Fritsch<br />Date: 26 August 2014 at 14:30:31 BST<br />To: alek boyd <alek.boyd@gmail.com><br /><br />This is really creepy, Alek. You conducting surveillance these days or wtf?<br /><br />On Aug 26, 2014, at 8:25 AM, Alek Boyd <alek.boyd@gmail.com> wrote:<br /><br />Hi Tom,<br /><br />further to my recent email about possible work that your company could be doing in Venezuela, have a look below at what I have just received. It would be a surprise that a colleague of yours is working for the type of thugs I have been exposing for many years now, and I would hate to think that you were economical with the truth with me about your company's involvement with such people, to the point of denying involvement.<br /><br />As you know very well, I have been chronicling chavismo for nearly 12 years now. You know me, you know what I stand for. You also know well that there are no secrets in Venezuela and that in the last decade or so I have developed an extensive network of contacts that keep me up to speed on things. I had heard from different people that Derwick Associates had hired your company for some sort of white wash operation. And now I have gotten evidence that places Peter Fritsch in Caracas just over a month ago.<br /><br />Needless to say to I am planning to expose this, as I did previously when Al Cardenas and FTI were hired to cleanse the bolichicos "reputation" (perhaps you guys should ask Cardenas how did it go for him). I have already found some rather interesting reports about Glen Simpson, your CEO, that will make for very interesting reading when linked to chavistas. <br /><br />I would appreciate your frankness in this respect. As I understand, you're a senior partner there and the firm is not that big.<br /><br />Best,<br />Alek </i></blockquote>
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/venezuelan-ex-official-detained-in-spain-on-us-warrant/2017/10/26/ac386bf6-ba83-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_story.html" target="_blank">Corrupt operatives involved in Derwick's schemes were arrested last week in Spain on U.S. arrest warrants</a>. Furthermore, I happen to have <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/923858932782850048" target="_blank">evidence that links Derwick directly with one of the arrested</a>.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtj7zEwttH4UwayTyP3Nh_etRuQKpH1yrZKxg-AD4GJge9BLCmKgvpY3YxvheinTnUJ0xtlHnRzgu34xV04V6waIV2igfCZtJ0bsuIB26ZzziycwGdUh5__8qa9cdbuD4-7AQNw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-31+at+16.54.49.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="550" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtj7zEwttH4UwayTyP3Nh_etRuQKpH1yrZKxg-AD4GJge9BLCmKgvpY3YxvheinTnUJ0xtlHnRzgu34xV04V6waIV2igfCZtJ0bsuIB26ZzziycwGdUh5__8qa9cdbuD4-7AQNw/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-10-31+at+16.54.49.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
When I confronted LeVine with Fritsch's trip to Caracas he blocked me on Twitter. That's OK. But his reputation, as that of the thugs he apologises for, will suffer for it. I had a number of further questions for LeVine in store, given that he claims ignorance on how much Fusion GPS charges for their 'work'. Fritsch, for instance, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/homesales/detail/MRIS2077817/6309-dahlonega-rd-bethesda-md-20816" target="_blank">purchased a $2.3 million house in 2016</a>. His partner, Tom Catan, paid in full a $508,000 mortgage on his residence in 2015, and purchased another house, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/southern-maryland-home-sales/2017/05/08/5f0d6a36-2f2b-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html?utm_term=.bd0d37678fff" target="_blank">in Lusby, in 2017 for $660,500</a>. Simpson in turn, took a $500,000 mortgage on his house in 2014. Evidently smearing investigative journalists and human rights defenders is a lucrative business.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQrs4TD061UwV2olnWu6uT8iys6JuRq3dQrdUqZDI4krgQ7CvMk9g2P4CzlO2n6o58hDRYASYCttT8nDhV7lhXhxq6Y-aZnZ00nCwVL0fhXDaJWumTgRdwJHUZDjUHc6ProaMQ/s1600/peter-fritsch-derwick-associates.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="665" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQrs4TD061UwV2olnWu6uT8iys6JuRq3dQrdUqZDI4krgQ7CvMk9g2P4CzlO2n6o58hDRYASYCttT8nDhV7lhXhxq6Y-aZnZ00nCwVL0fhXDaJWumTgRdwJHUZDjUHc6ProaMQ/s640/peter-fritsch-derwick-associates.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fusion GPS' Fritsch record of stay in Caracas, July 2014.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
LeVine won't be explaining Fritsch's trip to Caracas or Fusion GPS' involvement with Venezuelan criminals in Georgetown University anytime soon. Flat earth syndrome...<br />
<br />
LeVine, though, is a fine example of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-press-loves-fusion-gps-1509475567" target="_blank">what's rotten with today's mediocre journalism</a>. "Seriously savy" folks, incapable of exercising a modicum of critical thinking, incapable of running cursory due diligence, unwilling to check claims before risking reputations. These are not "extremely" able professionals uniquely equipped to "understand and contextualize... hard to locate" information. These are wholy amoral people driven by money. It is unthinkable that these "seriously savy" fellows did not know what they were getting into when they decided to service the likes of Derwick Associates. I know Catan, personally. He never struck me as an idiot.<br />
<br />
In the criminal underworld, what Fusion GPS has done is called <a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/02/men-who-sent-swat-team-heroin-to-my-home-sentenced/" target="_blank">swatting</a>. Fusion GPS basically <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/clinton-campaign-dnc-paid-for-research-that-led-to-russia-dossier/2017/10/24/226fabf0-b8e4-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html" target="_blank">took money from the Democrats</a> to produce fiction that was then shopped to all and sundry with the intention of criminalising, or swatting, Donald Trump. The FBI, also "seriously savy" I suppose, decided to swallow the whole thing, as did other equally clever folks up and down the American government. No one checked. No one scrutinised sources, nor was the 'intel' questioned. But that's not LeVine you see. He vouches for Fusion GPS 'reporters'. Also a 'reporter', and a 'professor,' LeVine thinks he is equally infallible.<br />
<br />
Justice Departments in the U.S., Spain, Andorra, and Switzerland are closing in on Derwick. Facilitators of their corruption are already behind bars. Officials that approved payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to Derwick have already been indicted and have pleaded guilty. Unless they move to Venezuela, or to <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/6620-emails-allegedly-belonging-to-russian-lawyer-reveal-hidden-influence-on-magnitsky-case-investigations" target="_blank">Russia</a>, is going to be difficult for Fusion GPS to come out of this unscathed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-44766160000154117622017-07-28T14:31:00.002+00:002017-08-01T12:17:27.993+00:00Fusion GPS a victim?<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Statement from Fusion GPS, which produced the Steele dossier, re: accusations it was hired by Russians: <a href="https://t.co/8UKoz7l21s">pic.twitter.com/8UKoz7l21s</a></div>
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) <a href="https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/890657311609376771">27 July 2017</a></blockquote>
"<b>What is clear is that the president and his allies are desperately trying to smear Fusion GPS</b>..."<br />
<br />
So these thugs are the victims now, aren't they?<br />
<br />
How curious, isn't it, that Fusion GPS would basically resort to the same strategy (victimhood) of its utterly corrupt Venezuelan client (Derwick Associates) when their inexcusable business practises come to light?<br />
<br />
When I started reporting about Derwick Associates' corruption nearly five years ago, Donald Trump was a mere American citizen spewing bile about Barack Obama, and Derwick was a totally obscure and unknown shell company.<br />
<br />
Between 2012 and Trump's election in 2016, I wrote a great deal about <a href="http://infodio.com/es/search/node/derwick" target="_blank">Derwick</a>. In August 2014, I exposed <a href="http://infodio.com/270814/adam/kaufmann/peter/fritsch/derwick/associates" target="_blank">Fusion GPS connections to Derwick</a>. Fusion GPS' involvement with the worst scum of chavista Venezuela happened exactly along the lines of their involvement with the Trump dossier. In their words "<b>it is a matter of public record that Fusion GPS worked for and under the supervision of an American law firm providing support for civil litigation in New York.</b>"<br />
<br />
Indeed, Fusion GPS' founder Peter Fritsch flew to Caracas in July 2014 with Adam Kaufmann, former New York's District Attorney Chief Prosecutor, also in Derwick's employ. The civil litigation Fusion GPS and Kaufmann were involved in was a lawsuit against Derwick initiated by Otto Reich, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Derwick, lawyered up to their eyeballs, managed to have the case thrown out for lack of jurisdiction, despite having subcontracted all the work to an American company, despite having used American stream of commerce, banks and currency to carry out their corrupt enterprise, despite having used American courts to falsely prosecute perceived critics, and despite having assets worth millions of dollars in America.<br />
<br />
Derwick, and its American employees "<b>pulled out all the stops, including... false allegation[s]</b>" to derail Reich's RICO case against Derwick.<br />
<br />
The false allegations fabricated by Derwick / Fusion GPS had nothing to do with Russia, or Trump. It was about me. It was about my family. Given that most of the stuff posted in the public domain about their corruption was done by me, it was about their belief that I was instrumental in "bringing disrepute" to their otherwise very kosher company. It was about their sheer conviction, that I was a "hired pen", in the employ of a Venezuelan banker, to tarnish their "hard earned" reputation.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/francisco-convit-incriminates-derwick.html" target="_blank">Derwick / Fusion GPS' strategy</a> was to completely destroy my credibility. Derwick / Fusion GPS tried to do so by producing fake warrants, in which I was accused of committing a crime that's not even part of Venezuela's Penal Code ("<i>Tráfico de Estufepacientes</i>"). So inept, not even the spelling was right.<br />
<br />
Derwick / Fusion GPS then resurrected my mother: having died of cancer, in 1983, in a Basque town, she was placed "in charge" of a drug trafficking ring in 2006 with operations in Venezuela, the USA and Spain. Fake ID numbers, migration logs and pictures were posted online linking me to my mother's alleged cartel.<br />
<br />
Derwick / Fusion GPS "accused" me of being a homosexual, irresponsibly spreading AIDS in Caracas.<br />
<br />
Derwick / Fusion GPS then invented that I was a partner of a Colombian narco terrorist organization (FARC). One of FARC top commanders even "complained" about me, for an alleged theft of some "500 kilos of cocaine".<br />
<br />
Allegedly I am also a "car thief" and an "extortionist".<br />
<br />
My sister's Spanish passport details were posted online during this smearing campaign. My sister's "love affair with Hugo Chavez" was "exposed" on one of the websites.<br />
<br />
I was "accused" of being a pedophile. A fake Spanish Police report was posted online as "evidence". My father's second wife was also accused of being a pedophile.<br />
<br />
Derwick / Fusion GPS creativity did not stop there: as part of my alleged "drug trafficking operation" I was involved in "submarine constructions", to carry the cocaine to international markets. I was "presented" as an associate of known drug traffickers (some of them killed) from Colombia and Venezuela.<br />
<br />
And then, <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">three thugs broke into my flat, in London</a>.<br />
<br />
Pictures of my daughters, obtained through illegal surveillance ops that lasted months in the city of London, were posted online. Some of them were modified -with photoshop- carried out in Caracas and in India.<br />
<br />
Hand written threats of sexual abuse against my daughters were sent to me via <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">recorded delivery from Tbilisi</a>.<br />
<br />
Details of my home address and telephone number were posted online. <br />
<br />
Notorious member of Venezuela's "democratic opposition" <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/my-issue-with-derwickramosallup-f3d185633009" target="_blank">Henry Ramos Allup, was enlisted in the smearing campaign</a>.<br />
<br />
My blogs and websites were <a href="http://www.wefightcensorship.org/censored/corruption-limits-venezuelan-internethtml.html" target="_blank">censored in Venezuela</a>, despite the fact that I publish nearly everything in English. <br />
<br />
The above was spread online in English, Spanish, French and Italian, through dozens of anonymous blogs, social media profiles, and websites operated in jurisdictions where the rule of law is non existent. To their eternal shame, some American based platforms, like Wordpress, Ripoff Report, Tumblr, and Blogger refused to remove fake information / illegaly obtained photographs about me and my family.<br />
<br />
While the above was taking place in the public domain, Fusion GPS was busy "briefing" reputed news outlets / journalists against considering any of my documented investigations into Derwick Associates rampant corruption. I used to collaborate -for free- with <a href="https://elpais.com/autor/alek_boyd/a" target="_blank">Spain's El País</a>, whose America editor Hector Schamis refused publication of <a href="http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/crime-court/police-very-concerned-as-journalist-claims-venezuelan-agents-raided-primrose-hill-home-1-4027381" target="_blank">news of break into my apartment</a>, and decided right after it to sever any further collaborations. Schamis participates in panel talks with Fusion GPS' Tom Catan's wife, just a coincidence I'm sure.<br />
<br />
Derwick, as Fusion GPS claims for itself now, was a "victim" of a "family feud". All of Derwick's procurement contracts -which netted them nearly one billion dollars- were done "legitimately, above board, and were the product of open bidding processes".<br />
<br />
Derwick / Fusion GPS promised the WSJ official evidence to prove legitimate origin of their contracts, which they have failed to do to this day.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Here's evidence <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Derwick?src=hash">#Derwick</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BetancAlejandro">@BetancAlejandro</a> procurement contracts were not obtained thru open competitive bidding <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CORRUPTION?src=hash">#CORRUPTION</a> in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Venezuela?src=hash">#Venezuela</a> <a href="https://t.co/lVzhtFrgBE">pic.twitter.com/lVzhtFrgBE</a></div>
— Aʟᴇᴋ Bᴏʏᴅ (@alekboyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/890149365561610240">26 July 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Derwick is being probed by the Southern District of New York and several federal agencies. Crucially, criminal actors involved in exactly the same modus operandi employed by Derwick, with the <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/swiss-authorities-confirm-u-s-investigating-derwick-associates-c33171119e00" target="_blank">same Venezuelan institutions and corrupt officials and at the same time</a>, have been found <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/miami-businessman-pleads-guilty-foreign-bribery-and-fraud-charges-connection-venezuela" target="_blank">guilty of FCPA violations and charged</a>. Is this a case of some criminals being more equal than others?<br />
<br />
Derwick is being investigated in Spain.<br />
<br />
Derwick is being investigated in Andorra, whose prosecutors have sent legal assistance requests to French counterparts.<br />
<br />
Derwick's lawyers are fighting a request for information and legal assistance sent by the Justice Department to Switzerland, which will reveal money movements in dozens of Swiss banks.<br />
<br />
The mother of one of Derwick's top execs (Francisco Convit) has had nearly a million dollars seized in Italy, upon <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFheeNvXsAA5_0A.jpg:large" target="_blank">beliefs of involvement in money laundering</a>.<br />
<br />
Francisco Convit claims to have a personal net worth of over $200 million (2013).<br />
<br />
Alejandro Betancourt claims to have a personal net worth of over $600 million (2013).<br />
<br />
Officials behind granting of contracts to Derwick are under investigation in Spain and Andorra.<br />
<br />
Any rational person would conclude that a freelance, independent blogger with a very limited audience, does not have the capacity to trigger all those criminal investigations in mentioned jurisdictions.<br />
<br />
But what of Fusion GPS' client relations? Their Venezuelan clients happen to also be in business with <a href="http://infodio.com/06062017/derwick/oil/gas/35/million/bribe/gazprom/pdvsa" target="_blank">Gazprom</a>, a sanctioned Russian State-owned entity that has -as all others- a Putin stench. Just who goes into business with Putin these days? Just who goes into business with Venezuelan 'entrepreneurs' these days?<br />
<br />
Considering the state of chavista Venezuela, how could anyone believe that shells like Derwick have made billions legitimately? More to the point, how can anyone service and profit from the likes of Derwick, in view of the near absolute destitution they've left behind?<br />
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Considering that before 2009 Derwick did not even exist, who makes that kind of money in little over three years in a place like Venezuela?<br />
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None of these questions were ever part of Fusion GPS considerations. They were employed to smear, to seed sufficient doubt among journalists, politicians interested in Venezuela, to completely annihilate any form of genuine criticism toward public expenditure. Their faithful association with the likes of Derwick speaks volumes about the kind of outfit they run, basically, apologists and spin doctors for criminals.<br />
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And this has nothing to do with Trump. Or with the Democrats. <a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/fusion-gps-report-donald-trump.html" target="_blank">Fusion GPS' amorality predates Trump by many years</a>. They are -as all others- swamp creatures. In their extremely deluded worldview, they claim victimhood now, not realising that extreme political antagonism between Republicans and Democrats is fueled in large part by their own actions.<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-20225196587954262092017-06-09T09:15:00.002+00:002019-02-22T00:52:56.448+00:00Victor Sierra, Torino Capital y la nueva VenezuelaVan muchos muertos. Muchos heridos. Sufrimiento generalizado. Protestas. La vida de la sociedad venezolana, en lo que a las grandes ciudades respecta, está en perenne caos. La anarquía impera. Y el peligro de ese rio revuelto, es que hay mucho espabilao negociando posiciones, tratando de insertarse, de colearse por la puerta trasera. Mientras nuestros jóvenes pierden la vida a razón de uno por día, los operadores de oficio continúan en lo suyo, tratando de oxigenar al chavismo, de "negociar una salida". Me refiero, por supuesto, a quienes contemplan la Constituyente como solución, a quienes quieren dar garantías a los criminales que han destruído Venezuela. Me refiero, particularmente, a Victor Sierra, a Torino Capital, a Francisco Rodriguez, y a la posibilidad, real, de que ese tipo de individuos tengan roles preponderantes en la nueva Venezuela.<br />
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Hace apenas unos días, se conoció el guiso de Dinosaur Group y Goldman Sachs, comprando bonos de deuda venezolana por un valor mucho menor al actual. Muchos expresaron su repudio ante tal guiso. Comenté entonces que la arrechera no debía, en mi opinión, ser dirigida a Goldman Sachs, sino a los <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alek.boyd/posts/10155451077051579" target="_blank">venezolanos que se prestan, permiten y colaboran en tales guisos</a>. Victor Sierra, de Torino Capital, se sintió aludido por mi comentario y me contactó para explicarme, off the record, que ni él ni su firma tienen nada que ver en dichas actividades. Me dijo que ni él ni su firma han hecho un negocio con PDVSA o Venezuela. En su mensaje, afirmó que auditorías a su firma han "salido... con 5 estrellas...". Luego equiparó su trabajo con el de los bancos y fondos "más grandes del mundo", intento excusar actos criminales, y mintió descaradamente sobre su trabajo y empleados.</div>
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Por insistencia suya prometí que nuestro intercambio iba a ser "off the record", mas como mi primera lealtad, como venezolano, es para con mi país, estimo necesario publicar aqui mi intercambio con Sierra. Es crucial que la sociedad venezolana sepa cómo piensa esta gente, cómo argumenta, racionaliza y excusa sus actos. Pero, sobre todo, es imperativo exponer el profundo desprecio que sienten hacia quien quiera que los cuestiona. Convencidos están de su infalibilidad. </div>
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El tiempo que me tomo escribir Torino Capital FINRA en Google, bastó para chequear si las <a href="http://disciplinaryactions.finra.org/Search/ViewDocument/66415" target="_blank">actividades de Torino son "5 estrellas"...</a> En cuanto al resto de sus argumentos, mejor leen el intercambio, comenzando desde abajo:<br />
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Begin forwarded message:</div>
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From: alek boyd <alek.boyd@gmail.com><br />
Subject: Re: Saludo<br />
Date: 8 June 2017 14:15:12 BST<br />
To: Victor Sierra <victorsierrab@yahoo.com></div>
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Gracias por tomarte el tiempo de responder Victor.</div>
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Uno de los grandes males de nuestro tiempo, es la pretensión que la responsabilidad -sea personal, colectiva o en cualquiera otra forma- puede evadirse con el argumento de la complejidad. Todos los herederos de un patriarca tienen los mismos derechos ante la ley, aquí y en China, salvo que exista un testamento que defina los derechos específicos de cada individuo en cuestión, o haya mediado en vida algún tipo de arreglo entre las partes (como en este caso). No obstante, los hechos demuestran que dos de los herederos legales del patrimonio de Capriles Ayala fueron ilegalmente despojados de su parte, en abierta colusión entre una parte de la familia, abogados y cortes. Como es natural por lazos consanguíneos, tu vas a defender hasta el ultimo de tus días las acciones de tu padre. Desde mi punto de vista, tu padre es un hampón, el Michu otro, y todos los que de alguna manera coadyuvaron con la consecución del robo multimillonario a los Capriles Cannizaro pertenecen a la misma ralea. Esa colectividad de gente amoral es la que, ultimadamente, ha causado que Venezuela esté en la penosa situación en la que está.</div>
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For the record, he enviado solicitudes de comentarios a Michu en el pasado, pero nunca ha enviado respuesta.</div>
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Pero, insisto, los hijos no deben ser culpados de las acciones de los padres, a menos que, consciente y activamente, en edad legal y plena facultad de condiciones, hayan participado en dicho accionar. No creo que ese haya sido tu caso, y por ello mi disposición en éste intercambio.</div>
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Pasando a tus aclaratorias, debo decir que encuentro tus argumentos inadmisibles.</div>
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Por lo único que se conoce tu firma, es por su defensa de la capacidad de pago del regimen chavista. Una y otra vez, en cada oportunidad y foro, publica y privadamente, no se conoce un argumento de ustedes que indique una posición balanceada, o dicho de otro modo, de Torino no se conoce otra cosa que la afirmación de que invertir en el chavismo es buen negocio. Si ésta conversación fuese entre chinos, rusos, ingleses o austriacos, pues uno podría obviar, como es el caso, el aspecto moral de tal actitud. Pero tu eres venezolano, Rodriguez es venezolano, y ambos derivan ingreso y ganancias de lo que considero una forma de apología del chavismo. Ustedes han demostrado una capacidad despreciable de poder abstraerse del drama y la miseria que el chavismo ha impuesto en Venezuela, con el objetivo de lucrarse transando instrumentos financieros. Que los transan en el mercado secundario? Que llevan inversionistas a Venezuela, o les acomodan reuniones, conferencias, etc., con el oficialismo y la oposición? Tu de verdad crees que ello te exime de crítica? Tus clientes, esos que pagan por los servicios de Torino, no terminan también transando en los mercados instrumentos financieros emitidos por instituciones chavistas y embolsillándose los dividendos producidos por tales instrumentos? Te has preguntado, alguna vez, a quién beneficia eso, aparte de a los inversionistas y a quien recibe comisiones por dichas transacciones?</div>
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Desde luego que a mi no me beneficia. A mi familia tampoco. A los que mueren de mengua y escarban la basura, a los que tienen que hacer cola para comprar comida de quinta categoría, tu trabajo no los beneficia, en lo absoluto. El referirse a lo que hacen todos bancos del mundo tampoco es escudo. El mundo ya conoce lo que hacen los bancos. El privatizar las ganancias pero socializar las perdidas es archiconocido, y sus consecuencias se han sentido en todos los rincones del planeta. El derivar un beneficio, sea de primera, segunda o quinta mano, de una emisión hecha con la corrupción como único propósito, te hace partícipe de la misma. El problema es que ustedes no lo hacen de forma sigilosa, no. Lo cacarean a los cuatro vientos. Se vanaglorian de su acceso, de ser citados en prensa, de que sus opiniones sean consideradas. Sin la deuda venezolana, es muy probable que Francisco Rodriguez fuese un personaje totalmente desconocido, un economista de esos sin pena ni gloria que pululan por el mundo pretendiendo ser relevantes. Tu firma no produciría muchos dividendos, pues en el mercado financiero internacional donde hay que competir con tiburones estilo GS, JP Morgan, etc., un tarantín de tres desconocidos cuya experiencia se reduce, casi exclusivamente, a una república bananera como Venezuela, probablemente no tendría mucha longevidad como negocio rentable.</div>
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Dices que la relación de tu firma con el chavismo es la misma que con la oposición. Fíjate, por ejemplo, que yo jamás he logrado que un servidor publico chavista responda mis solicitudes de información. Será por que mi padre no se echaba palos con miembros del Cartel de Damasco? Será por que no fui chavista, como Rodriguez? Desde luego que el hombre puede, y tiene el derecho de, tener sus opiniones por muy nauseabundas que sean. Pero tu argumento, que cuando él habla sobre la capacidad de pago del chavismo, lo hace a título personal, y no en representación de Torino, es risible, aparte de falso. Tu argumento, de que debido a su “posición muy senior” en Torino, básicamente actúa sin supervisión y con plena libertad, es ridícula. Empleado es empleado, senior o no.</div>
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En suma Victor, reitero mi agradecimiento por tu aclaratoria. La guardaré por el resto de mis días como ejemplo de la amoralidad que prevalece en la sociedad de cómplices venezolana.</div>
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Atentamente,<br />
Alek Boyd</div>
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On 6 Jun 2017, at 21:16, Victor Sierra <victorsierrab@yahoo.com> wrote:</div>
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Hola Alek,</div>
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Gracias por tu respuesta. Continuemos nuestra conversación off the record y privada.</div>
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Mi padre fue mano derecha y abogado de la Cadena Capriles por más de 30 años. Mi padre actuó como asesor legal de una de las partes como bien sabes durante el proceso de litigio de la fortuna. En este tema difiero de tu opinión y pienso es un tema más complejo del que describes pero como tú mismo lo dices yo no estuve involucrado y estuve 100% desligado de todo este proceso. No estaba en Venezuela (estoy en estados unidos viviendo desde el año 1994). Tengo 23 años en la Banca siempre en New York y todo lo que tengo me lo he ganado con duro trabajo.<br />
Si te comento que mi papa me dijo que él se envolvió en este debacle porque quería que los dos lados se beneficiaran justamente. Al principio los Capriles Canizaro tenían el upperhand. Es una historia compleja y lo mejor es que obtengas las dos versiones antes del veredicto. Yo mismo no tengo respuestas porque no estuve envuelto. También recuerda que mi padre se desligo de este proceso desde el año 1998 y la mayoría de las decisiones que se fueron tomando a partir de esta fecha se hicieron sin él y entre los herederos. La pelea continuo desde ese punto por más de 14 años. Si te comento que después de esta fecha (1998) mi papa no tuvo nada más que ver con este caso.<br />
No dispares al mensajero pero cheque a Michu por ti y me dice que no ha sabido de ningún intento de tu lado de oír su parte de la Historia. Si es algo que te interesa le puedo decir pero a pesar de que Michu es cercano y le tengo aprecio tanto a él como a Miguelito porque me crie con ellos te puedo decir que él no me considera un amigo por el hecho que me fui muy joven y no hubo tiempo de relacionarnos a ese nivel.<br />
Respondo a tus comentarios que me pertenecen. Me parece que no me explique bien cuando te dije que no he hecho un solo negocio con Venezuela o PDVSA. Cuando digo esto me refiero a una operación financiera directamente con ellos. Queriendo decir alguna operación de Banca de Inversión o de compra y venta de bonos con ellos. En estas operaciones puedes ayudar al país o PDVSA a financiarse directamente a través de emisiones de bono, prestamos, canje, trading etc. A eso le llamamos hacer negocio en nuestra industria.<br />
Que si opero deuda internacional Venezolana y de PDVSA en los mercados extranjeros (deuda externa) si claro hace más de 23 años que lo hago desde las multinacionales más grandes del planeta en su momento. Al igual que opero Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Rusia, Asia, Europa, etc. A esto no se le llama hacer negocio con el país. Esto es trading en los mercados internacionales. Alguna de esta deuda esta emitida durante la cuarta república y otra durante la quinta. Esto lo hacen todas las instituciones financieras del mundo y lo continúan haciendo. Te hablo de todos los Bancos más grandes del Mundo, los fondos más grandes del mundo etc. Compañías como por ejemplo JP Morgan, HSBC, BOFA Merrill, DB, Wells Fargo, Citibank, PIMCO, Black Rock, etc. Esta deuda ya está emitida queriendo decir que al comprarla o venderla no estas financiando al País. El país no recibe beneficio directo de financiamiento con estas operaciones. Estos bonos fueron emitidos hace tiempo y el financiamiento ya tuvo lugar en su momento. El caso de Goldman fue diferente ya que los bonos estaban en las manos del gobierno. Los bonos que yo opero están en el mercado internacional y en manos de inversionistas internacionales en mercado secundario.<br />
El caso de que los inversionistas aquí afuera quieren que Venezuela siga pagando no es correcto. Unos si quieren que pague y otros quieren el default. Te explico esto si te interesa en otro mensaje.<br />
Mis inversionistas son principalmente americanos. Te cuento más sobre esto. Como todos los Bancos de Inversión / Broker dealers llevamos a inversionistas a Venezuela y tenemos reuniones con ellos sobre Venezuela. La razón que ellos buscan nuestros servicios principalmente es para saber la situación del País. Quieren saber la situación de País para tomar decisiones si vender o comprar deuda existente Venezolana en los mercados internacionales. Si puede existir interés bajo las condiciones apropiadas de prestar al país pero como te dije al principio no hemos hecho ni una sola transacción de este tipo. No hemos financiado a PDVSA o Venezuela en la historia de la firma. Todos los bancos internacionales incluyéndonos estaríamos dispuestos a financiar a Venezuela/PDVSA bajo las condiciones adecuadas pero estamos claros que ahora no es el momento. Donde sí habría disposición es en operaciones externas de mercado secundario u operaciones bajo préstamos existentes que no sean nuevo financiamiento sino re venta o re alocación.<br />
Hablas de comisiones. El mercado de deuda soberana internacional funciona igual que el mercado de acciones de cualquier país. Hay un centro de ejecución con precios donde se opera la deuda y todas nuestras instituciones ganan la comisión entre la compra y la venta internacional. Esto es la práctica del todas las instituciones financieras con todos los países del mundo y es un mercado donde Venezuela/PDVSA no tienen beneficio. Hay bonos de Irak, Irán, China, Rusia, Afganistán, Bolivia y todos los países del mundo operando como deuda externa.<br />
Hablemos de relaciones de Torino con el Chavismo. La relación de Torino con el Chavismo son las mismas que con la oposición, es una relación informativa. Que significa informativa, quiero decir que los inversionistas internacionales están buscando información de la situación del país. Esta información la dan los dos sectores no solo un lado. Con esta información ellos toman decisiones de inversión en el mercado secundario o primario si existe una oportunidad bajo las condiciones adecuadas. Esto es nuestro trabajo y es el mismo de todos los bancos que están envueltos en mercados emergentes que son muchos como JPM, HSBC, Barclays, Citi, etc. Con este análisis informativo, Torino también hace reportes analíticos.<br />
Hablemos de Francisco Rodriguez. La función de Francisco dentro de Torino es facilitar la información a través de un proceso de investigación y comunicarse y conversar con los inversionistas aquí afuera. Así que sus relaciones de los dos lados son parte de su trabajo. Por su posición muy senior dentro de la empresa está encargado y es responsable de lo que escribe y por eso decimos que lo que el escribe y su equipo no representa la opinión de la empresa necesariamente. Esto es así en todos Bancos. Si me pongo a revisarle todo lo que escribe y decirle que escribir el hombre me renuncia. Él es suficientemente senior y está encargado de las decisiones dentro de su departamento de investigación. Así que sus relaciones en su gran mayoría son parte de su trabajo. Por ejemplo para ser justo, el último evento que organizamos en New York sobre Venezuela era solo miembros de la oposición los invitados. Ahora bien, Francisco tienes sus tendencias y creencias del proceso político y económico en Venezuela a nivel personal. Esto es algo que esta fuera de mi jurisdicción como pienso estarías de acuerdo. Su posición personal es algo para hablarlo directamente con él.<br />
Torino jamás ha donado a la campana de ningún político en Venezuela o en cualquier otra parte ya que está prohibido por los organismos regulatorios.<br />
Espero esto ayude a aclarar algunos de tus puntos y déjame saber si necesitas más información de este u otro tipo.<br />
Abrazo<br />
Victor</div>
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On Thursday, June 1, 2017 1:26 PM, alek boyd <alek.boyd@gmail.com> wrote:</div>
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Hola Victor,</div>
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empecemos por el principio, que fue tu email inicial en Octubre de 2013.</div>
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Mi conocimiento del rol de tu padre en el manejo, gerencia y consecución de apropiación final ilegal del control absoluto de la Cadena Capriles es, debo admitir, subjetiva. Sólo he escuchado a una parte. Mis intentos de conocer la otra parte de la historia, es decir la de Michu, ha sido infructuosa. No obstante, de lo que he sido informado, y he podido corroborar, es que el Michu, con la ayuda de tu padre, básicamente se robó cientos de millones de dólares, no sólo del patrimonio de su hermanastro y madrastra -cuya existencia ni siquiera mencionaste en tu email, sino de su propia madre y hermanas. Sin duda, uno de los mayores casos de corrupción de la historia de Venezuela que he estudiado, en el cual tu padre tuvo un rol crucial.</div>
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Pero esa historia no viene al caso, y uno nunca debe culpar a los hijos por las acciones de los padres. Hice mención a tu persona, y a tu empleado Francisco Rodriguez en mi pequeño escrito sobre Goldman Sachs, por cuanto tengo entendido que el caballito de batalla de Torino Capital, el producto que lo mantiene a flote, es, precisamente, la deuda venezolana, o mejor dicho, la asesoría sobre la deuda venezolana por la cual los clientes de Torino están dispuestos a pagar comisiones.</div>
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Desde mi punto de vista, hablar bondades del narco régimen chavista -lease aseverar hasta la saciedad su capacidad de pago, que es finalmente lo que Torino hace en lo que respecta a Venezuela, es inadmisible, pues comporta un beneficio económico que resulta de convencer a los inversores de las ventajas de invertir en el chavismo. Encuentro, por tanto, inverosímil tu argumento “Ni yo ni Torino hemos hecho un solo negocio con Venezuela o PDVSA…” De hecho es un insulto a mi inteligencia que digas tal cosa, habida cuenta de la relación -digamos peculiar- que Torino tiene con el chavismo, y que ha sido reportada públicamente no necesariamente en cadenitas de WhatsApp, como uno de los apólogos de Rodriguez afirmara públicamente.</div>
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Así las cosas Victor, te invito a que me saques de lo que consideras mi posición errada. El no tener “cuentas de un solo politico venezolano” no exime de oprobio las notorias actuaciones de tu firma y de tus empleados, en lo que considero la perpetuación de la miseria en nuestro país.</div>
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Coloco al final de esta respuesta tu mensaje íntegro a través de FB messenger. Siéntete con plena libertad de aclarar cuanto desees, cuan extenso lo consideres, ya que no tengo pensado viajar a Nueva York en el futuro inmediato.</div>
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"Hola Alek, te quiero decir algo "off the record". Vi que me mencionaste en tu artículo de Goldman como banquero que hace negocios sin escrúpulos en Venezuela. Eso no puede estar más fuera de la verdad. Aplaudo tu coraje y te lo dije hace varios años atrás en un email personal pero para hacer justicia hay que ser justo y tener pruebas antes de exponer la reputación de una persona. Ni yo ni Torino hemos hecho un solo negocio con Venezuela o PDVSA de ningún tipo,eso son calumnias de grupos de interés. No tenemos cuentas de un solo político venezolano o de cualquier otro en el mundo ni estamos bajo ningún tipo de investigación. Somos altamente regulados por el SEC y FINRA y como parte de ese proceso nos han aauditado varias veces como lo hacen con todos los Bancos de Inversión en Estados Unidos y hemos salido de la auditoría con 5 estrellas. Nuestro negocio es principalmente con empresas norteamericanas. Te invito a almorzar y a que pases por nuestras oficinas y te explico bien nuestro negocio a detalle y con toda la transparencia si pasas por Nueva York. Somos un equipo integró de veteranos de Wall Street de todas las nacionalidades pero principalmente en su mayoría norteamericanos.<br />
Tengo la mayoría de mi vida viviendo en los Estados Unidos que son ya 30 años. Nunca e trabajado en otro lugar que no sea en Nueva York y tengo una integra carrera en la industria en los Bancos más grades multinacionales. Ya son 23 años en la Banca.<br />
Te invito a que me llames cuando necesites cualquier aclaratoria y en confianza. Mi número de Oficina es 212-661-2400 y también me puedes escribir a mi email personal victorsierrab@yahoo.com.<br />
Voy más haya de lo que te escribo en decirte que puedo jurar sobre una Biblia que en mi carrera no me he robado un centavo ni enriquecido ilegítimamente. Decirte esto me llena de satisfacción porque mis amigos y mi familia conocen mis valores y principios y tengo mi conciencia limpia.<br />
Si buscas justicia y eres amigo de la verdad deberíamos ser aliados y no enemigos. Yo como tú aborrezco a los corruptos.<br />
Saludo! V”</div>
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Saludos,<br />
Alek</div>
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On 22 Oct 2013, at 18:39, Victor Sierra <victorsierrab@yahoo.com> wrote:</div>
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Hola Alex,<br />
Estuve la semana pasada con Miguel Octavio pasando unos días de vacación y me hablo de ti. Justo también me hablaron de tu página una amistad hace poco. Te escribo para felicitarte. Necesitamos más personas como tú en Venezuela. Eres muy valiente al publicar y dar tus opiniones de personas que han estado masacrando el país por años. Muchos de ellos vienen de familias de dinero bien y mal ávido.<br />
Si necesitas mi ayuda en verificar u obtener información estoy a tus ordenes siempre y cuando sea en absoluta confidencialidad.<br />
Tengo 26 años en USA. Estudie parte del colegio y luego en la Universidad de Boston (1991 -1994). Consecuentemente me vine a trabajar a New York donde la mayoría de mi carrera fue en ABN AMRO Bank pero estuve en otros bancos también. Estoy muy allegado al periodismo y comprendo intrínsecamente en parte su dinámica. Mi padre fue vice-presidente ejecutivo y mano derecha de Miguel Angel Capriles Ayala fundador de la Cadena Capriles por mas de 40 años. A su muerte mi padre pasa a ser presidente de las empresas por tres años. Después de tres años entrego la presidencia a el hijo heredero de Capriles senior, Michu. Corrientemente mi padre esta en retiro pero sigue como Director principal del Banco Mercantil. Podrás imaginar que crecí entre periódicos y revistas. Pero no estoy casado hablando de intereses con ninguna empresa, institución, o persona en Venezuela así que mis opiniones son parciales.<br />
Soy fundador y Chairman de Torino Capital un Investment Bank americano que reside en New York.<br />
Tu nombre me suena conocido. Si no te importa me cuentas un poco de tu bio.<br />
Si te encuentras en New York me encantaría poder conversar contigo personalmente.<br />
Muchos periodistas en Venezuela y offshore por miedo no publican mucha información y por eso tienes mi respeto. Continua valientemente tan importante trabajo<br />
Saludo,<br />
Victor</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-20631076221211614412017-06-05T09:21:00.000+00:002017-06-05T13:09:06.401+00:00#LondonBridge and Tory cuts to The Metropolitan PoliceLet me just say that I am very upset and angry about the latest terrorist attack in <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23LondonBridge&src=tyah" target="_blank">#LondonBridge</a>. Only days before, and at roughly the same time, we were walking those very streets near Borough Market and London Bridge. It could have been my dear friends, my wife... Then I ponder on the goals of those thugs: what can they possibly achieve with such stupid, backward and senseless attack? Do any of these deranged imbeciles really think that driving into a crowd, or stabbing people is going to bring Western civilisation and its tenets to a halt? If anything their actions are only increasing the world's resolve to eradicate them, and their nihilistic ideology from the face of the earth.<br />
<br />
But today, the debate dominating the agenda is whether<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/london-terror-attack-bridge-borough-latest-firearms-officer-government-wrong-police-cuts-theresa-may-a7772506.html" target="_blank"> savage Tory cuts have diminished law enforcement capabilities</a>:<br />
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I'm a serving firearms officer and the Government is wrong to claim police cuts have nothing to do with recent attacks</h1>
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Despite her denials, Theresa May’s cuts to police numbers have made attacks like London and Manchester much more likely</div>
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</blockquote>
<a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/francisco-convit-incriminates-derwick.html" target="_blank">From personal experience</a>, I think I can provide an answer to whether the Conservatives' insane approach to balancing the budget -at the expense of core services- has had any impact.<br />
<br />
As readers of this blog may remember, in <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">November 2014 thugs -either sent or hired by Venezuelans- broke into our flat, stole my laptops, and left ominous threats of sexual abuse against my children</a>. The reaction and actions of The Metropolitan Police in this particular case have been amateurish, unprofessional, deeply unsatisfactory and utterly inefficient.<br />
<br />
A few things became evident since my first interaction with Metropolitan Police officers that arrived in our building, after calling 999, the most shocking being, of course, to hear the inspector assigned to the case tell me "you brought this upon yourself" due to my exposing corruption and white collar criminals. A great line to reassure a victim no doubt. But that claim came after the opening qualifier: "I'm dealing with over 20 cases at the minute and yours being just a regular break in to steal gadgets is not a priority."<br />
<br />
Those words set what would follow. The Metropolitan Police officer in charge did not know how to take a screenshot of the CCTV video provided as evidence. The CCTV itself was only collected from our building a week after the incident. The mobile phone left in the flat didn't produce a single lead. My questions about access to public CCTV in buses, train and Tube stations to determine movements of suspects were dismissed with "we can't do that due to data protection." One unpleasant interaction after another led me to raise a complaint, which was dealt with an investigations supervisor who was equally clueless, and uncooperative, excusing lack of progress on jurisdictional grounds. While I was reassured that images of suspects and information had been shared within the Metropolitan Police with anti terrorism unit, and with other investigative departments, the fact is the <a href="https://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/francisco-convit-incriminates-derwick.html" target="_blank">thugs</a> that came to terrorize my family got away with it.<br />
<br />
Time and again I heard apologetic arguments from the Metropolitan Police, about being understaffed, underpaid and stretched far beyond its capabilities. And who is responsible for that situation? David Cameron, George Osborne, Theresa May and the rest of the nasty people at the top of the Tory party, for whom balancing a budget is prioritized over people's health, education and protection. And things have only gotten worse. As disgusting and unpalatable as Jeremy Corbyn is, he got one thing right when he said: "<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-40154309/jeremy-corbyn-you-can-t-protect-people-on-the-cheap" target="_blank">You can't protect people on the cheap.</a>"<br />
<br />
Theresa May has been repeatedly warned about the consequences of police cuts. Does she care, or rather, what exactly has she done about it? Theresa May was very much part of Cameron / Osborne government. She can not, at this juncture, skirt her personal responsibility in the mess created by her and her predecessors. Instead of "accusing" Corbyn of "trying to sneak into Number 10" -which is precisely what she did- she must apply to herself some of the arguments she repeats like an automaton.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-81233590995781873782017-05-17T09:26:00.001+00:002017-05-17T10:39:54.151+00:00Importadores de material de represión en Venezuela<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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⚡️ La venta de material de represión en Venezuela tiene nombre y apellido: Gabriel Miño Mendoza - Sinotrade<a href="https://t.co/XMKBU6p1pQ">https://t.co/XMKBU6p1pQ</a></div>
— Aʟᴇᴋ Bᴏʏᴅ (@alekboyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/859770307716026368">May 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<br />
Mi interés en el material de represión, que ha causado ya decenas de muertes en Venezuela, comenzó cuando recibí documentos de Zuma Seguros que evidencian una de las formas en las cuales estos guisos suceden. La investigación de los individuos y empresas involucradas (<b>Zuma Seguros, Sinotrade, Gustavo Mendiri, Renny Calderin, Ciro Amesty, Gabriel Miño Mendoza, Giuseppe Yoffreda Yorio, Venezolana de Exportaciones e Importaciones</b>) que publique en Twitter se ha regado como el gas lacrimógeno con el que reprimen a la población.<br />
<br />
Y una de las consecuencias ha sido que me filtraron data de todos los importadores de material de represión en Venezuela. Desde 2009. Los montos no son muy altos: en total un poco más de 35 millones de dólares. Igualmente, analizando la data con el <a href="https://hts.usitc.gov/" target="_blank">sistema armonizado de códigos</a> (todas las importaciones están clasificadas en Capítulo 93 relativo a armas, municiones y sus repuestos y accesorios), he encontrado varias cosas extrañas, por decir lo menos.<br />
<br />
Andres Mauricio Acuña Vargas, por ejemplo, aparece importando armas de caza o para uso deportivo. Ningún problema allí. Otros ejemplos:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Aerocamiones de Venezuela</b>, importando pistolas y/o revólveres desde Puerto Rico.</li>
<li><b>Cemex de Venezuela</b>, importando cartuchos desde EEUU.</li>
<li><b>Comercial Vasco Venezolana</b>, importando munición e items clasificados como de aire comprimido (lacrimógenas?) desde España.</li>
<li><b>Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana</b>, importando espadas, sables o bayonetas desde EEUU. </li>
<li><b>DHL</b>, importando todo tipo de armamento, municiones, etc. desde Panamá.</li>
<li><b>Zoom International</b>, importando todo tipo de armamento, municiones, etc. desde EEUU.</li>
<li><b>Distribuidora Nacional Centurión</b>, importando municiones, espadas..., e items clasificados como de aire comprimido desde España.</li>
<li><b>Maximo Olivieri</b>, representante en Venezuela de Beretta, importando desde Italia.</li>
<li><b>Falken de Venezuela</b>, debo agregar aqui, que Falken de Venezuela parece ser una subsidiaria de Falken S.A. de España. Esta empresa, <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/864481517975875585" target="_blank">relacionada con dirigentes del Partido Popular</a>, es de la familia <b><a href="https://www.empresia.es/empresa/falken/" target="_blank">Bardisa Jorda</a>, </b>y vende casi exclusivamente material de represión (ver foto). Cabe mencionar que Falken comenzó a exportar sus productos a Venezuela en 2009, y su última importación fue en 2015. Es decir, le ha vendido tanto a Chavez como a Maduro, todas sus 37 operaciones -salvo tres- a cambio preferencial (2,15, 4,30 y 6,30).</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Dg90pytw5omAmhl9Wu2Xv923wztm10isIEda6wpxf36FTVEBb9itNVTRXqwDns1-YZzAkY3Q4nhgE5AXg93dOnq9bFT3RuJ3djf0oBf1Q5aFVL5TutMDhhQNmF0l05eZj5QNw/s1600/falken-2017-05-16+at+15.53.07.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6Dg90pytw5omAmhl9Wu2Xv923wztm10isIEda6wpxf36FTVEBb9itNVTRXqwDns1-YZzAkY3Q4nhgE5AXg93dOnq9bFT3RuJ3djf0oBf1Q5aFVL5TutMDhhQNmF0l05eZj5QNw/s640/falken-2017-05-16+at+15.53.07.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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En cuanto a la procedencia y numero de importaciones: Alemania (40), Austria (6), Bélgica (13), Francia (3), Italia (70), Bielorrusia (1), Brasil (4), Chile (6), Argentina (2), China (4), Arabia Saudita (1), Emiratos Arabes (1), Mexico (5), Hong Kong (1), Panama (26), Puerto Rico (6), Peru (1), Corea del Sur (1), Taiwan (1), Turquia (6), Estados Unidos (120), y España (98).</div>
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Todas las importaciones hechas a través de DHL, FEDEX o Zoom carecen de información sobre identidad del remitente. </div>
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Contacte a los representantes de Falken, en Venezuela y España. No he recibido respuesta. Contacte también a periodistas en España, ya que la familia que controla Falken es conocida hasta cierto punto. No ha habido respuesta... </div>
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A continuación la lista de todos los importadores, cuyos detalles pueden buscarse rápidamente en el Registro Nacional de Contratistas, bajo este formato: </div>
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- <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=C.A+Venezolana+De+Industrias+Militares+site%3Arncenlinea.snc.gob.ve" target="_blank">C.A Venezolana De Industrias Militares site:rncenlinea.snc.gob.ve</a></div>
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- <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Comercializadora+Verotex+C.A.+site%3Arncenlinea.snc.gob.ve" target="_blank">Comercializadora Verotex C.A.</a></div>
<br />
<ol>
<li>C.A Venezolana De Industrias Militares </li>
<li>Comercializadora Verotex C.A. </li>
<li>Inversiones Urmon 77, C.A </li>
<li>Ministerio De La Defensa </li>
<li>Omar Jose Gimenez Zabaleta </li>
<li>Representaciones Doral S.A. </li>
<li>Venezolana de Exportaciones e Importaciones</li>
<li>Herrera Crespo Gerardo Jose </li>
<li>Comercial Vasco Venezolana, C.A. </li>
<li>Glock De Venezuela C.A. </li>
<li>Inversiones Guiama C.A. </li>
<li>Zoom Internacional Services C. A. </li>
<li>Moreno Guevara Ramon Antonio </li>
<li>Rodriguez Madera Jorge Javier </li>
<li>Importadora Yinphie </li>
<li>Inversiones Y Suministros A & A C. A.</li>
<li>Martinez Juarez Cesar Rafael </li>
<li>Prendas Militares Fotoscreen C.A. </li>
<li>Vieira Rodriguez Luis Manuel</li>
<li>Vivas Castellanos Jose Gregorio </li>
<li>Falken Venezuela, C.A </li>
<li>Armas Llano C. A. </li>
<li>C.A. Cartuchos JK </li>
<li>Cartuchos Victoria, C.A. </li>
<li>Casa Bianca, C.A. </li>
<li>Distrib. Nac. Centurion, C.A. </li>
<li>Inversiones Cabello S. A. </li>
<li>Inverca S. A. </li>
<li>Maximo Olivieri C.A. </li>
<li>Acuna Vargas Andres Mauricio </li>
<li>Aerocamiones De Venezuela, C.A. </li>
<li>Anchor Fasteners C.A </li>
<li>Armaragua C. A. </li>
<li>Banco Central de Venezuela </li>
<li>Carlos Manuel Fleitas Cruz </li>
<li>Cemex de Venezuela,</li>
<li>Complejo Siderurgico de Guayana</li>
<li>Da Silva De Freitas Juan Oswaldo</li>
<li>DHL Fletes Aereos C. A. </li>
<li>Distrimport Carabobo C.A. </li>
<li>DLM Logistics Venezuela, C.A. </li>
<li>Dual Import Export, C.A. </li>
<li>Federacion Venezolana De Tiro </li>
<li>Federal Express Holdings S.A. </li>
<li>Gimeno P Pedro J </li>
<li>Hilti Venezuela, S. A. </li>
<li>Huerta Carlon Gregorio Rutil </li>
<li>Inversiones 1511, C.A. </li>
<li>Inversiones Ararauna 4x4, C.A. </li>
<li>Inversiones Iaseteca, C.A. </li>
<li>Representaciones Marcos Gonzalez </li>
<li>Ruy Part C.A. </li>
<li>Schlumberger Venezuela S.A. </li>
<li>Servicios Y Suministros De Oriente </li>
<li>Supermercado Los Diaz C.A </li>
<li>Tactical Sports, C.A. </li>
<li>Zoom Internacional Services C. A. </li>
<li>Fapco, C.A. </li>
<li>Gustavo Enrique Suarez Rodriguez </li>
<li>Maria Pellicane Lampasona </li>
<li>Emporio Del Fumador, C.A. </li>
<li>Benedetto Parziale </li>
<li>Cardeport Special C.A </li>
<li>Pescalo A Pulmon.Com </li>
<li>Scarlet Gabriela Azuaje Hernandez </li>
<li>Scrosoppi Mar, C.A. </li>
<li>Srt Consultores, C.A. </li>
<li>Boutique Del Cazador C. A. </li>
<li>El Bodegon De Las Armas C. A. </li>
<li>Administradora Los Cortijos Verdes </li>
<li>Exito, C.A. </li>
<li>Invermil S. A. </li>
<li>Mg Gun Sport Internacional, C.A. </li>
<li>Armeria Global Gl, C.A. </li>
<li>Letter Express International, C.A. </li>
<li>Representaciones Cobarca, C.A.</li>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-88729867979878404032017-05-01T14:12:00.001+00:002017-05-03T16:41:56.981+00:00Francisco Convit incriminates Derwick AssociatesLast week Palomo Linares died in Spain. The <a href="http://www.elespanol.com/corazon/famosos/20170424/210979066_0.html" target="_blank">bullfighter and paramour of Lilia Lopez</a> (mother of Derwick Associates' head <a href="http://infodio.com/180314/who/is/alejandro/betancourt" target="_blank">Alejandro Betancourt</a>) was instrumental in providing <i>bona fides</i> and opening doors, which led to <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/derwicks-betancourt-launders-more-money-in-spain-s-hawkersco-4b7c7a034df9" target="_blank">considerable money laundering</a> by Derwick Associates in <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/bank-spain-money-laundering.html" target="_blank">Spain</a>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofrO62CQtFDRL07FOpPCyvf4Gr3RmiPCzPPuH9Bum8b_TLoYpx8h13miH0O9qb6BcxKW7izJyMYuGZwdd8kt6GDRUVGOLOH8RkGK1NR6IVKsQAotanvxnzr_dQb2TFq9gfLooYg/s1600/bolichicos-derwick-associates.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofrO62CQtFDRL07FOpPCyvf4Gr3RmiPCzPPuH9Bum8b_TLoYpx8h13miH0O9qb6BcxKW7izJyMYuGZwdd8kt6GDRUVGOLOH8RkGK1NR6IVKsQAotanvxnzr_dQb2TFq9gfLooYg/s640/bolichicos-derwick-associates.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<b>From left: Francisco D'Agostino, Alejandro Betancourt, Pedro Trebbau, Edgar Romero Lazo and Francisco Convit.</b></div>
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I taunted the <a href="https://settysoutham.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/bolichico-biographic-info-unsealed/" target="_blank">bolichicos</a> by twitting my "condolences" to Betancourt's mum and sister, for the deceased bullfighter was also father to Betancourt's sister's boyfriend. I know, I know, typical Spanish real life tattle, where <a href="http://www.elmundo.es/album/loc/2017/04/24/58fde9a622601d273d8b45d5_18.html" target="_blank">father and son just happen to be involved with mother and daughter</a>.<br />
<br />
My tweet must have rattled Derwick's cage. Francisco Convit, according to recently leaked documents owner of 50% of Derwick Associates (below), reacted by claiming I was a "dirty rat", and, unlike Palomo who was described as an all time great, no one would remember me when I die. To that I replied that, most certainly, that would be the case, for it wasn't me who stole over one billion dollars worth of public funds in Venezuela.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkJ6bortcj47hcF50AJoIcfLHS2ohri2NvPDQMZeePJdkrpuDrZ6gqql4_ORgl6wZHRiyVbfk0IsC2fberQs1lOe0UZUWYEZl8hHL-fJf6Zd85PiyaPmxeTKDp4RKwFPEnl9l6A/s1600/francisco-convit-derwick-associates.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkJ6bortcj47hcF50AJoIcfLHS2ohri2NvPDQMZeePJdkrpuDrZ6gqql4_ORgl6wZHRiyVbfk0IsC2fberQs1lOe0UZUWYEZl8hHL-fJf6Zd85PiyaPmxeTKDp4RKwFPEnl9l6A/s640/francisco-convit-derwick-associates.png" width="560" /></a></div>
<br />
The ensuing Twitter debate was very boring. The usual chavista claims regarding my being a "hired pen" and my alleged inherited mental issues were wheeled out, almost immediately. From there, it took a moment to start referencing my father's suicide, over and over again, as cause of my "depression". In chavista Venezuela, mocking people's mental issues and family tragedies is common currency.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElKptaS8lQrfqPzmp8BGALJKbYpPGVPsurbLmfpnCBrrmdD61N38XY82dZ7pY97rDblLo5gTmScQLI_oi-XcwuqrIFHp_joxX-J2P2OmpK7QejktH-Ny8Tp6FmUv_vcKtaUhbXg/s1600/franciscoconvi7.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgElKptaS8lQrfqPzmp8BGALJKbYpPGVPsurbLmfpnCBrrmdD61N38XY82dZ7pY97rDblLo5gTmScQLI_oi-XcwuqrIFHp_joxX-J2P2OmpK7QejktH-Ny8Tp6FmUv_vcKtaUhbXg/s320/franciscoconvi7.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Convit claims to know a great deal about me and my mental issues. He claims, in fact, to know my thoughts. As the tweet on the left shows, Convit said "when your mind starts telling you that you're useless, to question why would (your) daddy do what he did, or your wanting to slit your wrists."<br />
<br />
Freud would be proud at such preeminence.<br />
<br />
But that's not what caught my attention, after all chavistas and associated thugs have been making <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">impossible to prove claims about me for years now</a>, from reviving my deceased mother, to turning my sister into Hugo Chavez's lover (despite her residing permanently in another continent), to my mental issues, when not my "AIDS-spreading" homosexual adventures. It's all part of the progressive repertoire.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_mseNZJwbnRzNvLo5UmjN2vV5CHgcD6WEZyeUs3Ux2BYM-TP6YUV1jMsS-P2kWmnw5RscXeMukL4YQAENc2hUR077Ve_OfVmGvrHYcVbh45QCD08cOi9HLZ2bqoUWzDFA0HIUw/s1600/franciscoconv7-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_mseNZJwbnRzNvLo5UmjN2vV5CHgcD6WEZyeUs3Ux2BYM-TP6YUV1jMsS-P2kWmnw5RscXeMukL4YQAENc2hUR077Ve_OfVmGvrHYcVbh45QCD08cOi9HLZ2bqoUWzDFA0HIUw/s320/franciscoconv7-2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Convit also said however, that <a href="https://mappingmediafreedom.org/#/548" target="_blank">the break into my flat, which happened on 17 November 2014</a>, was my own doing: <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-Qo89RXcAEFeWt.jpg:large" target="_blank">an act of self promotion aimed at drawing attention to myself</a>.<br />
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Now this does interest me. For Convit spiced up his Twitter attack with repeated questions about my alleged "unemployed status", and my alleged "living like a wealthy person in London".<br />
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How exactly does Convit know my employment status?<br />
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How can Convit possibly claim knowledge of my living "like a king... in London, the world's most expensive city"?<br />
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When I saw these tweets, I immediately contacted London's Metropolitan Police's case investigator. The spurious arguments, of my alleged terrorising my own children and staging a break in, could almost be expected from such a deranged thug. But what to make of repeated unemployment status and life style mentions?<br />
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In that respect I have my own theory. Both my family and myself were subject of illegal surveillance, in and around London, that lasted months prior to assault to our flat. My wife, children and myself, were photographed, together and separately, in different locations. Pictures of our daily commute to school and work, at different day times, were posted by anonymous individuals across a variety of websites and social platforms. I have a catalogue of such pictures and have done a tremendous amount of investigation regarding metadata, time stamps of photoshopping, etc.<br />
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I know parties in Caracas, as well as in India, were involved. Threats of sexual abuse made against my children were written and sent, twice, from Tbilisi. Defamation tasks were likely <a href="http://infodio.com/201213/rafa/hacker/clean/perception/crowdflower" target="_blank">assigned through micro tasking platforms</a>. It is highly likely that at <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/816652412211576832" target="_blank">least one</a> of the <a href="http://infodio.com/sites/default/files/blog_image/agents-chavismo-break-in-blogger-london.png" target="_blank">three assaulting men</a> resides in Spain.<br />
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Convit has all these information. He knows at what time we leave in the morning and at what time we come back in the afternoon. He's privy to location of my children's school, in fact pictures of it were posted. Defamation campaigns launched a week after break in used Convit's very same arguments, regarding my life style and alleged unemployment.<br />
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How can someone who doesn't know me, has never met me, has no common acquaintances, and lives in Caracas, claim to know what I do and how I live in London? This is the best indication, as yet, of <a href="http://infodio.com/20170114/fusion/gps/derwick/associates/venezuela/corruption" target="_blank">Derwick Associates' direct involvement in theft of my laptops, terrorising my family and break in</a>. I have <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/848920729022279680" target="_blank">documentary proof</a> demonstrating that their procurement to Venezuelan institutions was done <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/841626542652416002" target="_blank">through nepotism and rampant corruption</a>. Now I have public admissions, an entire Twitter collection in fact, of knowledge of details about my life that only somebody who knows me really well can know.<br />
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Even someone of Convit's intellectual calibre would realise, sooner or later, that self incrimination is not a good business practice, much less considering Venezuela's current situation, and the fact that <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23derwick&src=typd" target="_blank">the entire country has come to know him and his partners as epitomes of all that went wrong</a> under chavista rule. <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/derwicks-betancourt-launders-more-money-in-spain-s-hawkersco-4b7c7a034df9" target="_blank">Remember that these folks travel the world pretending they're upstanding captains of industry and capital investors now</a>. So Convit had his Twitter account deleted. In any case, I saved copies of incriminating tweets, and passed all details to London's Metropolitan Police and to Twitter.<br />
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Convit, or his community manager, sent me an email afterwards claiming he did not have a Twitter account. Almost simultaneously, his <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Franciscoconvi7" target="_blank">@franciscoconvi7</a> Twitter account was deleted. Just a coincidence I'm sure... I have a very accurate X-ray of Derwick Associates' operations, investments, and assets around the world. Chavismo is not going to last forever, nor will Derwick's impunity.<br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-56217256323981102432017-03-24T15:23:00.005+00:002017-03-28T14:52:29.538+00:00Ramiro Helmeyer & RaFa new reputation-cleaning online technique: DDoS & IoT<br />
<b>UPDATED 28/03/2017 - 15:42GMT*</b> - In the latest chapter of new and creative forms of silencing / eliminating from view, accurate and relevant information about certain characters of Venezuela's underworld, this week I've been battling with yet <a href="https://medium.com/@alek.boyd/plunging-into-a-ddos-hole-a-how-to-guide-b7565f814513#.knkaosygl" target="_blank">another DDoS attack</a> against my first, now inactive, website: <a href="http://vcrisis.com/">vcrisis.com</a>. This time round, thousands of smartphones are being used, presumably without owners consent, to direct traffic (POST and GET requests) to my site. But the more interesting aspect is that most traffic comes from a handful of Google Cloud's IP addresses.<br />
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You read that right, DoSers are using Google's power to crash my server. For public benefit and future reference, abused addresses are:<br />
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104.199.239.63<br />
104.155.223.136<br />
35.185.97.148<br />
35.185.71.234<br />
104.198.44.92<br />
104.154.156.18<br />
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The requests being made, by the thousands, look like this:<br />
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www.vcrisis.com 35.185.71.234 - - [23/Mar/2017:00:01:13 -0400] "POST /index.php?content=archive HTTP/1.1" 200 498751 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en)<br />
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www.vcrisis.com 35.187.34.71 - - [23/Mar/2017:00:01:11 -0400] "POST /index.php?content=archive HTTP/1.1" 200 498752 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.3; de-ch; HTC Desire Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1"<br />
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www.vcrisis.com 104.155.223.136 - - [23/Mar/2017:00:01:11 -0400] "POST /index.php?content=archive HTTP/1.1" 200 498764 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows Phone OS 7.0; Trident/3.1; IEMobile/7.0; Nokia;N70)"<br />
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www.vcrisis.com 104.155.223.136 - - [23/Mar/2017:00:01:07 -0400] "GET /? HTTP/1.1" 200 22781 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.3; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/47.0.2526.111 Safari/537.36"<br />
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www.vcrisis.com 35.187.34.71 - - [23/Mar/2017:00:01:07 -0400] "POST /index.php?content=archive HTTP/1.1" 200 498759 "-" "Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/9 (Compatible; MSIE:9.0; iPhone; BlackBerry9700; AppleWebKit/24.746; U; en) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54"</div>
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Logs show thousands of such requests, to the extent that the server has been shut down and special measures have been put in place by my web hosting provider. I have, of course, shared relevant data with <a href="https://projectshield.withgoogle.com/public/" target="_blank">Google's Project Shield</a>, whose staff alerted me to increased traffic towards my <a href="http://vcrisis.com/">vcrisis.com</a> site the other day.</div>
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One of the benefits of this new association with Project Shield is that I get to see things that I couldn't / wasn't aware of before, such as the number of removal requests made on articles posted on my website. <a href="http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200602270723" target="_blank">The one reprinted below</a>, for instance, which is a post written by blog friend, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2162657/Ken-Rijock-Limos-Learjets-bundles-cash--meet-Mobs-money-launderer.html" target="_blank">financial crime consultant Ken Rijock</a>, seems to be causing some discomfort to <a href="http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-239382" target="_blank">criminal Ramiro Helmeyer</a> and his community manager, also convicted criminal, <a href="http://www.masquedigital.com/" target="_blank">RaFa the hacker</a>. </div>
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My dashboard shows that since 27 September 2016, 54 removal requests have been made on stuff posted on <a href="http://vcrisis.com/">vcrisis.com</a>, almost all of them to have the article below removed. Checking on removal requests made on articles posted in my other site, <a href="http://infodio.com/">infodio.com</a>, I noticed that all 368 such requests, from the <a href="http://infodio.com/node/599" target="_blank">first one made also on 27 September 2016</a>, are either articles on RaFa, or those exposing his who's who list of thuggish / criminal Venezuelan clients, <a href="http://infodio.com/201213/rafa/hacker/clean/perception/crowdflower" target="_blank">from convicted Helmeyer, to more recently convicted Roberto Rincon...</a></div>
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Some time ago I alerted <a href="http://infodio.com/node/599" target="_blank">Matt Cutts about RaFa's astroturfing</a>. I guess he's having to do all the criminals' white washing again. And he's succeeding at it I reckon. Google searches for Ramiro Helmeyer return these results these days: surely David Beckham, Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg wouldn't be proud of such usage of their images.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cDNiAUX0BepV5UrbPdqKtK5FWhVIVIxPR8GnE8i-zq_ujVrJafw1_l5IyS1_7u-IEOaMRgSVTD7I397SfUeaUWW_S2TUijLF9fD5apoHlzY_kjh_Eog_Qnq_56Dx4whAs09N0A/s1600/ramiro-helmeyer-google-image-search-2017-03-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4cDNiAUX0BepV5UrbPdqKtK5FWhVIVIxPR8GnE8i-zq_ujVrJafw1_l5IyS1_7u-IEOaMRgSVTD7I397SfUeaUWW_S2TUijLF9fD5apoHlzY_kjh_Eog_Qnq_56Dx4whAs09N0A/s640/ramiro-helmeyer-google-image-search-2017-03-24.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>* An update</b>: the good folks at Project Shield sent a message saying "<b><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/new-ddos-attack-uses-smartphone-browsers-to-flood-site-with-4-5bn-requests/" target="_blank">It was a Layer 7 HTTP flood DDoS attack</a></b>." Further investigation revealed that Project Shield own IP addresses were indeed used in the DDoS attack. What interests me is the level of sophistication Venezuelan crooks are employing to scrub their reputations. Considering the staggering amounts of money they've gotten through corruption, and the kind of services employed, is not difficult to foresee that their past misdeeds will be eliminated from public domain.<br />
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<h2 style="color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, verdana, arial; font-size: 13px; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-transform: capitalize;">
Drug Traffickers, Money Launderers And Terrorists Running Venezuela</h2>
<h3 style="color: #999999; font-family: helvetica, verdana, arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: center;">
By Kenneth Rijock, Financial Crime Consultant</h3>
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27.02.06 | Today we profile some of the career criminals who run Venezuela today, and are covertly moving it towards the military application of nuclear power, as well as other equally suicidal goals of their president, including but not limited to, looting the country of its national wealth, and destroying its economy. Here’s today’s selection:</div>
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<b>Carlos Rafael Lanz Rodriguez (ID. 3437254)</b> - This former career terrorist, who once kidnapped and held an American businessman for several years, was named by Chavez to head ALCASA, Venezuela’s aluminum processing utility, believed by some experts to be a front for Uranium mining. Last year, he was seen meeting with Mustafa Setmariam Nasar onboard a Panamanian-registered freighter on the Caribbean coast. For those of you not following the global war on terrorism, Mr. Nasar is the Syrian Al-Qaeda leader who was the intellectual author of the Madrid train bombing, and is one of the <a href="http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Nasar" style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">most wanted fugitives</a> in the world. This super-terrorist is regularly protected by the Direccion De Los Servicios De Inteligencia Y Prevencion, DISIP, when he travels in Venezuela. What was the subject of their conversation?</div>
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<b>Guillermo Antonio Garcia Ponce (ID. 10804)</b> - One of Venezuela’s most radical Marxists, (Liberacion Nacional in the 1960s) Comandante Garcia is Chavez’ liaison with the government of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, or North Korea. His mission is to acquire prohibited nuclear technology, and he has taken at least 8 trips to North Korea for that express purpose. It makes you wonder why North Korean military officers have been seen at Fort Tiuna, and what exactly Venezuela has purchased from that rogue country.</div>
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<b>Ramiro Francisco Helmeyer Quevedo (ID. 5217226)</b> - Released by Chavez from a 30-year prison sentence for murder (Mario Patty), this psychopath has been wanted in the US for weapons violations and escape for twenty four years (Northern District of Georgia, Case Numbers 1982cr-00220 and 1982cr-00355). His status as a trafficker in narcotics to Canada doesn’t seem to bother the Chavez government, though; Chavez unilaterally threw out his Venezuelan murder conviction, case No. 182-M-142. He is a “financial advisor” to DISIP, looter of PDVSA funds. His government-sanctioned crimes remain unknown thus far, but his involvement is a certainty, as is his longtime involvement with Orlando Castro Llanes. Helmeyer’s close associate, Alex Del Nogal, was also released by Chavez from a 20-year prison term, and is also currently with DISIP. One wonders how DISIP leaders reconcile Del Nogal’s prison term in Switzerland, and subsequent escape from custody, with his law enforcement role.</div>
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<b>Orlando Castro Llanes (ID. 12391789)</b> - Cuban-born Venezuelan financier and money launderer, he played a key role in Venezuela’s 1993-1994 banking crisis. He was <a href="http://www.ashenoff.com/orlando_castro/public.html" style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="blank">convicted in the US</a> of defrauding depositors of more than $ 55 million at Banco Progreso Internacional de Puerto Rico. This individual has been allowed to reopen his insurance business and is now a close aide to Chavez. Is it his communist past or his ability to destroy financial institutions, or both, that attract Chavez, and is he the brains behind Chavez’ foreign bank purchases?</div>
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<b>Ricardo Fernandez Barrueco (ID. 9095496)</b> - No stranger to our attention, a man who went from living in a grain silo to being a PROAREPA multimillionaire in record time, thanks to the Chavez family. He represents one of the greatest threats to Venezuela’s economy, as he has the ability to drain all of Venezuela’s wealth, both domestic and foreign, using his network of offshore tax haven bank accounts. Will he be the bagman who pays HAMAS with Venezuela’s PDVSA profits in Teheran? We shall continue to investigate, so stay tuned.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-90209305172259066162017-02-24T16:37:00.003+00:002017-03-01T09:50:34.894+00:00[UPDATED] DDoS, DMZHOST, spam, Project Shield...<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
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Google's Project Shield (protecting my site) is also protecting this guy who's exposing the plunderers of Venezuela <a href="https://t.co/GndJyeqSFT">https://t.co/GndJyeqSFT</a></div>
— briankrebs (@briankrebs) <a href="https://twitter.com/briankrebs/status/836703568811937792">28 February 2017</a></blockquote>
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<span class="s1"><i>This post was intended to be posted in <a href="http://infodio.com/">infodio.com</a>. Evidently, my contentment about having defeated the DDoS attack was premature... <b>Please see updates at bottom</b>.</i></span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">It's been a busy week. As I was chatting to a source in Caracas the other day, I noticed that this site was down. Asked my web host (shout out to the excellent folks at <a href="https://www.leaseweb.com/"><span class="s2">LeaseWeb</span></a>), and was informed that -yet another- <a href="http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DDoS_attack.html"><span class="s2">DDoS attack</span></a> had been launched against us. This is the third time a DDoS attack has been directed to my websites: once at <a href="http://vcrisis.com/"><span class="s2">vcrisis.com</span></a> and twice at <a href="http://infodio.com/"><span class="s2">infodio.com</span></a>. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJdoHKnFnGoKlf-rPc5x_TuqfUqvb6XdOIdsPt5frIzub7zaqdwEQmWGKgg81yk7PScRu-dmN9jI16e6Zh0uC8FSIRH_P1Gpu335IPen_zTliJuKwRwBty_cgM0H-M7zJkT3WsQ/s1600/project-shield-infodio.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJdoHKnFnGoKlf-rPc5x_TuqfUqvb6XdOIdsPt5frIzub7zaqdwEQmWGKgg81yk7PScRu-dmN9jI16e6Zh0uC8FSIRH_P1Gpu335IPen_zTliJuKwRwBty_cgM0H-M7zJkT3WsQ/s640/project-shield-infodio.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>This is how it looked this morning...</b><br />
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<span class="s1"> I must wonder, of course, at the reasons. Why would anyone seek to <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london"><span class="s2">prevent</span></a> the general public from <a href="http://infodio.com/20170114/fusion/gps/derwick/associates/venezuela/corruption"><span class="s2">learning</span></a> about the <a href="http://infodio.com/140217/tareck/el/aissami/samark/lopez/bello/ofac/kingpin/treasury"><span class="s2">stuff</span></a> I publish? Is it because we expose <a href="http://infodio.com/220216/pdvsa/procurement/contracts/30/billion"><span class="s2">Venezuela's rampant corruption</span></a>? For those who are yet to get acquainted with the situation, Venezuela is a Spanish speaking country, of some 30 million. It is, after 17 years of chavista rule, a <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21654653-un-honours-venezuela-curbing-hungerwhich-actually-getting-worse-let-them-eat-chavismo"><span class="s2">failed nation in the fullest sense of the term</span></a>. But this site does not cater for a Venezuelan readership. It seeks to inform the wider world about who's who in the Boliburgeoisie, a new extremely wealthy and, equally, extremely inept class of 'businessmen' that could only become minted under the shadow of Hugo Chavez's so called socialist revolution. We talk about the Alejandro Betancourts of this world, the Juan Carlos Escotets, the Victor Vargas, the Danilo Diazgranados, the Francisco D'Agostinos and Luis Obertos... we investigate the origin of their newly found riches, we track their operations across many different jurisdictions, we expose those who enable, aid and abet them, like Adam Kaufmann, Glenn Simpson, Al Cardenas, or even Baltazar Garzon, we uncover their deals, in Africa, Europe, Russia, Asia, in sum, we shed a glimmer of sunlight on their otherwise opaque underworld.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It is, therefore, to be expected that such work would attract the ire of nasty, criminal, yet extremely resourceful thugs (dirty money is welcomed by everyone everywhere nowadays). Dealing with this lot exposes us to very dangerous vendettas. They operate in a world without border / immigration barriers. They criss-cross the globe in their own private jets: one day they're having Heston Blumenthal cooking for them, the next they're in St. Barths hanging with Roman Abramovich, and the third meeting with ex-WSJ hacks, former Manhattan prosecutors and leaders from America's GOP, when not cavorting with the very best of Sloanes in London. Their reach knows no constraints either. A <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">London raid</a> can be easily organized from Caracas, without as much as a worry of ever getting caught. That's the kind this site deals with.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">The latest comes from Russia, or more specifically, an IP address controlled from Russia (<b>191.96.249.70</b>). A vulnerability in the Wordpress blogging platform allows the pingback method to be used to launch DDoS attacks (<a href="https://blog.sucuri.net/2016/02/wordpress-sites-leveraged-in-ddos-campaigns.html"><span class="s2">explanation here</span></a>). Basically, someone makes use of that vulnerability to <a href="http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PING.html"><span class="s2">ping</span></a> a target website. Checking my server logs, I noticed the following pattern:</span><br />
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<span class="s1"><i>"GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 32295 "http://infodio.com/" "WordPress/4.7.2; https://www.customescaperoom.com; verifying pingback from </i><b><i>191.96.249.70</i></b><i>"<br />
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<span class="s1"><i>"GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 32293 "http://infodio.com/" "WordPress/4.6.3; http://www.toptasting.com; verifying pingback from</i><b><i> 191.96.249.70</i></b><i>"<br />
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<span class="s1"><i>"GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 145833 "-" "WordPress/4.0.15; http://wisecleaner.online; verifying pingback from </i><b><i>191.96.249.70</i></b><i>"<br />
</i></span><br />
<span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When that request is repeated many thousands of times per second servers tend to collapse due to increased traffic, as was the case with mine. Thousands of such requests, as well as POST and HEAD requests, were launched from servers around the world.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">However, IP <b>191.96.249.70, </b>as all others, is associated to a <a href="https://dmzhost.co/index.html"><span class="s2">host provider</span></a>, in this case <a href="http://bgp.he.net/ip/191.96.249.70#_whois"><span class="s2"><b>DMZHOST.CO</b></span></a>. Said domain, as all others, is in turn registered by a person, somewhere, in this case a <b>Christian P,</b> with an address in the Seychelles very similar to that of Mossack Fonseca (<b>Oliaji Trade Centre, Francis Rachel Street, Victoria Mahe, Seychelles</b>). <br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Every domain has to have a person or organization responsible. In the case of DMZHOST.CO it initially had <a href="http://tools.tracemyip.org/search--isp/dmzhost+limited" target="_blank"><b>Dmzhost Limited</b></a> as responsible party, but seems to have passed control to <a href="http://www.tcpiputils.com/browse/ip-address/191.96.249.16"><span class="s2"><b>JUPITER 25 LIMITED</b></span></a><b>. </b>A search for Jupiter brings us closer to home, <a href="https://bgpview.io/asn/64484"><span class="s2"><b>to 35 Firs Avenue, N11 3NE, London, United Kingdom</b></span></a>. Please do note, in the last link, that there's a <b><a href="mailto:chris@dmzhost.co">chris@dmzhost.co</a></b> as contact for Jupiter. Could this be the same person as Christian P in the Seychelles? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">There are hundreds of companies registered in 35 Firs Avenue. According to Companies House data, <a href="https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10282369/officers"><span class="s2"><b>Darren Symes is Jupiter's director</b></span></a>, Symes is associated with over 200 companies. Others <a href="https://equalit.ie/2016/12/14/"><span class="s2">folks investigating similar attacks</span></a> have had this to say about DMZHOST in the recent past:<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><i>“Bulletproof hosting” providers like DMZHOST provide VPSs that advertise themselves as outside of the reach of Western law enforcement. DMZHOST offers its clients “offshore” VPSs in a “</i><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161128163313/https://dmzhost.co/datacenter.html"><span class="s3"><i>Secured Netherland datacenter privacy bunker</i></span></a><i>” and “</i><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161128155227/https://dmzhost.co/privacy.html"><span class="s3"><i>does not store any information / Log about user activity.</i></span></a><i>” At the same time, DMZHOST’s terms of service are just as concise. “DMZHOST does not allow anything (related) to the following content: – DDos – Childporn – Bank Exploit – Terrorism – NO NTP – NO Email SPAM”. </i></span><br />
<span class="s1"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Further investigation of <a href="http://www.tcpiputils.com/browse/ip-address/191.96.249.70"><span class="s2"><b>IP 191.96.249.70 and Jupiter 25 Limited</b></span></a> indicate that its DNS servers are controlled by yet another London-based company: <a href="https://www.host1plus.com/about-us/"><span class="s2"><b>Host1Plus</b></span></a>. This one in turn seems to be a trading name of <a href="https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06848949/officers"><span class="s2"><b>Digital Energy Technologies Ltd</b></span></a>.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Bitcoin payments, obscuring identity of ultimate culprits, are readily accepted by both DMZHOST and Host1Plus. I <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/834912216147243008"><span class="s2">sent a tweet to Host1Plus' Vincentas Grinius</span></a>, that was replied in the most ridiculous fashion to avoid dealing with the actual DDoS question. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">I also sent an email request to <a href="mailto:chris@dmzhost.co">chris@dmzhost.co</a>, and got an almost immediate reply, asking for logs. Chris sends emails from somewhere around Pavia in Italy (<b>93-36-187-144.ip61.fastwebnet.it</b>). He claims the server used for DDoS attack "has been shutdown", but refuses to say who used the server, who contracted server services with his company, how did he get paid, and refuses to provide his full identity or that of his client/s. If he ever identifies himself fully, and provides proper explanations as to use of his platform to DDoS this site<b>*</b>, I shall add his comments here, alas I have no hope: while asking him to reconsider, my inbox has been rendered almost dysfunctional in a matter of minutes by an avalanche of spam (see below), which started after my third email to Chris. So the server "has been shutdown" alright, but the attack has morphed...</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-uPybXf2acLbqghHWVf-wHqWsAGBE21zMyJjbw8ayiVQCm8Qvu-2Sb_mRNeRJc1H_LPn1P3-FhGHMI_kFz_N3IJbs9BNWpuHTJahl81oVrNzvhuHu_6tuCttUmhqvdON-cYWww/s1600/qps-project-shield-2017-02-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-uPybXf2acLbqghHWVf-wHqWsAGBE21zMyJjbw8ayiVQCm8Qvu-2Sb_mRNeRJc1H_LPn1P3-FhGHMI_kFz_N3IJbs9BNWpuHTJahl81oVrNzvhuHu_6tuCttUmhqvdON-cYWww/s320/qps-project-shield-2017-02-24.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Despite denials, queries per second peaked minutes after <br />confronting Chris@dmzhost.co as per Project Shield's data.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not all has been bad though. Right after <a href="https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/09/krebsonsecurity-hit-with-record-ddos/"><span class="s2">Brian Krebs suffered the largest ever DDoS attack</span></a> I remember having read about how <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-rescues-krebs-on-security-from-the-abyss/"><span class="s2">Google had come to the rescue</span></a>. Through Twitter I got in touch with <a href="https://twitter.com/nicholasgplatt"><span class="s2">Nicholas Platt</span></a>, Digital Media Producer of <a href="https://twitter.com/jigsawteam"><span class="s2">Jigsaw</span></a>, a technology incubator of Alphabet (Google's parent co) and got an invite to join <a href="https://support.google.com/projectshield/answer/6358113?hl=en&ref_topic=6358107" target="_blank">Project Shield</a>, which is the Google platform that defeated Krebs attackers. I will be forever grateful for this. The folks from LeaseWeb, my web hosting provider, must also receive my public gratitude: rather than kicking me out -after all the attack caused a lot of disruption and man hours to solve, Tom, Reece and Bagata kept their Dutch cool and were tremendously helpful.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
Virtual crooks are getting more brazen by the day, though I seriously doubt they will ever reach Google's levels of computing power. The silver lining is that due to the latest DDoS attack, no amount of stolen Venezuelan money will ever be able to knock this site offline again. It is yet to be determined which of the thugs normally exposed here is behind the latest attack, though we will carry on investigating, exposing, and shedding light upon corruption and the Boliburgeoisie. The latest findings put to rest the no-bid contracts given to Derwick, Diazgranados intentions to buy a sizeable portion of Compagnie Bancaire Helvetique, Charles Henry de Beaumont's dirty dealings with Oberto and other thugs in the Caribbean, the direct links between corrupt chavistas and their preferred contractors, etc.<br />
<br />
<b>*</b> Right after confronting <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/835164816746643456" target="_blank">chris@dmzhost.co this afternoon</a>, DDoS attack against <a href="http://infodio.com/">infodio.com</a> was relaunched, with the added bonus of a huge spam avalanche in my inbox. Chris <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/835157774745100289" target="_blank">claims that neither him nor his company were behind DDoS attack</a>, and added that he "could help you on mitigating ALL attacks. We are experienced on mitigating attack since also us receice many attacks"... (sic)<br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd6fgwFR6MRmbKsyG_Vw34Z8ZaqVRc4WOWBskHohoEtwpCxrQ9i7wnouu9wQSBQnla7ydWc03M3c3c5_2aA5xIzy0jLlUXbA7O48VpcYeGQt1AtfDlOqfinQd70vjz7AyhRCvWw/s1600/gmail-spam-chris-dmzhost-2017-02-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd6fgwFR6MRmbKsyG_Vw34Z8ZaqVRc4WOWBskHohoEtwpCxrQ9i7wnouu9wQSBQnla7ydWc03M3c3c5_2aA5xIzy0jLlUXbA7O48VpcYeGQt1AtfDlOqfinQd70vjz7AyhRCvWw/s640/gmail-spam-chris-dmzhost-2017-02-24.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Further investigations indicate that Chris' UK proxy, <b>Darren Symes</b>, has had a colourful past fronting for other scam artists grouped under <a href="http://www.redd-monitor.org/2015/02/23/noble-rock-partners-takes-over-claremont-partnerships-recovery-room-scam/" target="_blank">Claremont Partnerships and Noble Rock Partners</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE 25.02.2017 13:38GMT</b>: My server logs are providing more clues as per nature of attack. Project Shield's visits started yesterday morning:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
104.196.28.249 - - [24/Feb/2017:10:26:29 +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 146265 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; ProjectShield-UrlCheck; +http://g.co/projectshield)"</blockquote>
This continued, more or less uninterruptedly, until early afternoon and was coupled with spidering by Google bots, etc.:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
35.184.90.184 - - [24/Feb/2017:14:24:36 +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 146265 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; ProjectShield-UrlCheck; +http://g.co/projectshield)"</blockquote>
Then this happened:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
104.155.70.96 - - [24/Feb/2017:<b>14:26:09</b> +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 145833 "-" "WordPress/4.4.2; http://jazzjackrabbit.org; verifying pingback from <b>191.96.249.54</b>" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
104.199.6.69 - - [24/Feb/2017:<b>14:26:09</b> +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 32299 "http://infodio.com/" "WordPress/4.7.2; https://www.virtualsunburn.com; verifying pingback from <b>191.96.249.54</b>" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
104.199.61.249 - - [24/Feb/2017:<b>14:26:09</b> +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 32299 "http://infodio.com/" "WordPress/4.6; http://pironsecurity.com; verifying pingback from <b>191.96.249.54</b>"</blockquote>
At 14:24, <a href="mailto:chris@dmzhost.co">chris@dmzhost.co</a> sent an email saying:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Do not threat since for be clear we are not who launch you the attack. And we have take immediate action suspending the server so lawfully speaking we are total ok."</i> (sic)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
About two minutes passed between his "lawfully speaking we are total ok" and the restart of DDoS and further spam avalanche. However the IP had been changed, from previous 191.96.249.70 to 191.96.249.54, both controlled by his <b>DMZHOST</b> company.<br />
<br />
Email headers suggests that his email server (mail.ru) is located in a GMT +0300 time zone (Russia) and then routes it through Italy's Fastweb. His browser appears to be configured in Italian and he visited some of my sites from a Fastweb server at around same time:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvND5RmIFZpSwVhGyRRIKf6k8a45fhtP6oXQmN8RUOkQGog7EgfMo8B0zR9kVIvhUblyJG9fJi1X7329mZLSb9N7x0fT8uXDOeacc402nKlgo-jme856DDju8bs01dIWX_5usGA/s1600/chris%2540dmzhost-2017-02-24+at+17.40.12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvND5RmIFZpSwVhGyRRIKf6k8a45fhtP6oXQmN8RUOkQGog7EgfMo8B0zR9kVIvhUblyJG9fJi1X7329mZLSb9N7x0fT8uXDOeacc402nKlgo-jme856DDju8bs01dIWX_5usGA/s640/chris%2540dmzhost-2017-02-24+at+17.40.12.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I've sent an email to <a href="mailto:abuse@corp.mail.ru">abuse@corp.mail.ru</a>, however I have little expectation of ever getting a straightforward and appropriate reply (Added: mail.ru did reply, claiming <a href="mailto:chris@dmzhost.co">chris@dmzhost.co</a> is not a registered client despite email header evidence to the contrary). The spamming of my inbox continues in earnest: my last email was not replied, I guess Chris did not appreciate my confronting him and details in this post (Added: eventually a couple of emails made it into my inbox over the weekend, one from usual @dmzhost.co address and the other from <a href="mailto:dmzhosts@protonmail.com">dmzhosts@protonmail.com</a>, whereby our DDoSer and spammer claims "<i>IF YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS MAIL ITS BECAUSE WE CANNOT REACH YOU FROM OUR MAIN MAIL. <b>Please provide another mail which is not being spammed</b>.. or skype account</i>").<br />
<br />
DDoS Attacks directed to the site are still crippling functionality and access, with five outages in the last seven days.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdTPj6g_XgmPRjHUMzRFgWKs5OnxKm_yRqd7Laz-WhdQ0su0hAr5lUKk0aiNfsfxSque1eehFpStuYbpdB9aS6L-PkkpMjLwynnnRqY0IOz16u0YlneeJaC-PG54YcqGe_kGapA/s1600/host-tracker-infodio-ddos.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOdTPj6g_XgmPRjHUMzRFgWKs5OnxKm_yRqd7Laz-WhdQ0su0hAr5lUKk0aiNfsfxSque1eehFpStuYbpdB9aS6L-PkkpMjLwynnnRqY0IOz16u0YlneeJaC-PG54YcqGe_kGapA/s640/host-tracker-infodio-ddos.png" width="640" /></a> <br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE 01.03.2017 07:46GMT</b>: <a href="http://infodio.com/" target="_blank">infodio.com has been back online for over 48 hours, and is updated</a>.<br />
<br />
Looking at the latitude and longitude details of attacking IPs <a href="http://tools.tracemyip.org/lookup/191.96.249.70" target="_blank"><b>191.96.249.70</b></a> and <a href="http://tools.tracemyip.org/lookup/191.96.249.54" target="_blank"><b>191.96.249.54</b></a> in Google Maps, I noticed <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/55%C2%B044'54.6%22N+37%C2%B037'06.2%22E/@55.7481065,37.6192699,246m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d55.7485!4d37.6184" target="_blank">Rosneft HQ location</a>. Further research reveals that <a href="http://tools.tracemyip.org/lookup/91.142.135.116" target="_blank">Rosneft.ru has exactly the same latitude and longitude details</a> that IPs from where <a href="http://tools.tracemyip.org/search--isp/dmzhost+limited" target="_blank">DDoS attack against my site were launched</a>. Considering chavismo's relations with Russian 'state' companies, isn't that just an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-pdvsa-idUSL1N1EI1FO" target="_blank">extraordinary coincidence</a>?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65gd5ryQsLs8RQS3XXAzpA3E5i39CqJXWgKR883nkeUsQPyhQBt-q-rk8oLTFhqjk9EiG9Z4BqNMXCIAXOyVhzKQ67MiRqGpHklmEH6GdSPFRVZUBMRsGG0TqgKthxLqcIPJrOw/s1600/dmzhost-rosneft-lat-long.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65gd5ryQsLs8RQS3XXAzpA3E5i39CqJXWgKR883nkeUsQPyhQBt-q-rk8oLTFhqjk9EiG9Z4BqNMXCIAXOyVhzKQ67MiRqGpHklmEH6GdSPFRVZUBMRsGG0TqgKthxLqcIPJrOw/s640/dmzhost-rosneft-lat-long.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgHQ6bL4fSFPbE_mH_Mq73d85LyfL6Z5TZGknAStSJHA4LO5RCbrq51KNxvvT1wtzqLR78Lx-9xwqGf_td4J0Dv4-TOj31rUtbPVq9WilzoJzGZ6DLsmMax1KROGmlkj8mQPlCA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-03-01+at+09.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgHQ6bL4fSFPbE_mH_Mq73d85LyfL6Z5TZGknAStSJHA4LO5RCbrq51KNxvvT1wtzqLR78Lx-9xwqGf_td4J0Dv4-TOj31rUtbPVq9WilzoJzGZ6DLsmMax1KROGmlkj8mQPlCA/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-03-01+at+09.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-40749089892622421952017-01-12T22:32:00.002+00:002017-01-13T08:57:11.367+00:00FusionGPS steps in it (again): now about TrumpLet us start with the NYT's headline "<b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-intelligence.html?_r=0" target="_blank">How a Sensational, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump</a></b>", and a quote:<br />
<div>
<blockquote>
<i>Fusion GPS, headed by a former Wall Street Journal journalist known for his dogged reporting, Glenn Simpson, most often works for business clients. But in presidential elections, the firm is sometimes hired by candidates, party organizations or donors to do political “oppo” work — shorthand for opposition research — on the side. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<i>It is routine work and ordinarily involves creating a big, searchable database of public information: past news reports, documents from lawsuits and other relevant data. For months, Fusion GPS gathered the documents and put together the files from Mr. Trump’s past in business and entertainment, a rich target.</i></blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hAtz5diJbpISnorbhSWituh3FM1vytIt5VhT18j_VrZhEBJSlmCABC8JdLn-2Qskvp8SGnFT9Nq9M0JSNebltv7-nlPE67d5RPNfEU8r5WCZVqWvlcoYOIFWgUidsPh7mjMBOw/s1600/buzzfeed-fusiongps-trump-report.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hAtz5diJbpISnorbhSWituh3FM1vytIt5VhT18j_VrZhEBJSlmCABC8JdLn-2Qskvp8SGnFT9Nq9M0JSNebltv7-nlPE67d5RPNfEU8r5WCZVqWvlcoYOIFWgUidsPh7mjMBOw/s400/buzzfeed-fusiongps-trump-report.png" width="321" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Report from <a href="https://order-order.com/2017/01/12/6-media-outlets-which-rejected-buzzfeeds-trump-memo/" target="_blank">Guido Fawkes site</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
News about the unverified dossier have gone round the world a few times by now. Buzzfeed, the site that decided to go public with the "report" produced by Fusion GPS, <a href="https://order-order.com/2017/01/12/6-media-outlets-which-rejected-buzzfeeds-trump-memo/" target="_blank">certainly hasn't covered itself in glory</a>: some of the most reputed liberal media outlets (BBC, NYT, The Guardian and WaPo) refused to touch it, even though they'd love to claim Trump's scalp.<br />
<br />
There's already some talk about the similarities between Hugo Chavez and Donald Trump, <a href="http://www.univision.com/noticias/opinion/la-advertencia-de-una-periodista-que-dejo-venezuela-por-eeuu-no-era-el-fin-de-la-pesadilla" target="_blank">especially in the way the president-elect treats non-compliant media</a>. But I digress.<br />
<br />
What I'm finding remarkable about this, is that <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/31/what-the-new-york-times-didnt-tell-you-about-the-planned-parenthood-video-analysis/" target="_blank">Fusion GPS was in the news in the past for, precisely, its ethical and moral deficit</a>. Here's a quote attributed to Simpson:<br />
<br />
<i>"We’re hoping that people who have an interest in bringing things out, to do something about corruption, fraud, will come to us."</i><br />
<br />
Well, if attempting to destroy Republican donors -or its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/12/donald-trump-russia-dossier-what-happens-next" target="_blank">perceived GOP enemies</a>- doesn't work, <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/politico-nyt-fail-to-mention-report-exonerating-planned-parenthood-produced-by-democratic-opposition-research-firm/article/1020250" target="_blank">there's always a gig to be had with the Democrats</a>. It does crack me up however, to read, in The Guardian no less, stuff like: "Fusion GPS, <b>led by former journalists skilled in digging up secrets on public figures</b>." Skilled?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110902005106/http://www.fusiongps.com/team.html" target="_blank">I know better</a>. Fusion GPS were (may still be?) in the employ of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=derwick+bharara" target="_blank">Derwick Associates, without a shred of a doubt one of the most corrupt group of thugs ever to have come out of Venezuela</a>. The sort of "businessmen" that have no qualms in <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/791681628351434752" target="_blank">stealing over one billion USD from an almost destitute country</a>. Fusion's "former journalists", of course, <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/derwick-associates-paid-bribes-venezuela.html" target="_blank">don't have a problem with corruption</a>, so long as billable hours keep adding up.<br />
<br />
Glenn Simpson managed to get a few quid from the Derwick thugs. <a href="http://infodio.com/270814/adam/kaufmann/peter/fritsch/derwick/associates" target="_blank">He dispatched his sidekick Peter Fritsch to Caracas once upon a time</a>, along with another <a href="http://infodio.com/021014/how/to/steal/70/million/one/day/derwick/associates/bariven/proenergy" target="_blank">equally contemptible and disgusting former "prosecutor"</a>, basically to impede journalists from carrying on with, erm, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelan-energy-company-derwick-investigated-in-u-s-1407516278" target="_blank">corruption reporting</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQrs4TD061UwV2olnWu6uT8iys6JuRq3dQrdUqZDI4krgQ7CvMk9g2P4CzlO2n6o58hDRYASYCttT8nDhV7lhXhxq6Y-aZnZ00nCwVL0fhXDaJWumTgRdwJHUZDjUHc6ProaMQ/s1600/peter-fritsch-derwick-associates.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQrs4TD061UwV2olnWu6uT8iys6JuRq3dQrdUqZDI4krgQ7CvMk9g2P4CzlO2n6o58hDRYASYCttT8nDhV7lhXhxq6Y-aZnZ00nCwVL0fhXDaJWumTgRdwJHUZDjUHc6ProaMQ/s640/peter-fritsch-derwick-associates.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fusion GPS's Peter Fritsch's record of visit to Hotel Lido in Caracas in July 2014.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I happen to know one of the "skilled" journalists at Fusion GPS, <a href="https://twitter.com/tomcatan" target="_blank">Tom Catan</a>. He covered Venezuela's 2006 presidential race for The Times of London, and <a href="https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMTGsV_pH-bNq-p1jMI5bDi4eq1LCl2p45YAYvM" target="_blank">as I was shadowing the opposition candidate</a>, I was asked to organise an interview. We met a few years later, in Spain, when, again, I helped with another interview. I invited the guy to my house for dinner, we broke bread together, talked, had a few drinks with my family... He seemed, then, a decent enough person. Imagine my surprise when I found out that his firm was retained to destroy me on behalf of Derwick Associates. I confronted him with the kind of tactics they so readily employ with their targets. His reply dispelled my doubts as to his integrity.<br />
<br />
But then, Derwick thugs decided to crank it up a little. My family was the subject of illegal surveillance in London. We were photographed going about our daily affairs for months. <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">The operation culminated with a break into my flat, theft of my laptops, and threats of sexual abuse against my daughters</a>. Now that I read about Simpson's connection to a <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/christopher-steele-ex-british-intelligence-officer-said-to-have-prepared-dossier-on-trump-1484162553" target="_blank">former British MI6 agent</a>, I wonder: did Fusion GPS participated in the attack against my family? Did it subcontract former British intelligence officers to track me down in London?<br />
<br />
To be frank, I doubt that British spooks -regardless of how spineless and money driven they may be- could be as inept as to allow themselves to be caught in CCTV in the process of carrying out criminal activity. However, it is entirely feasible -considering its clients- that Fusion GPS asked its British counterparts for my whereabouts, and once determined the information was passed along to other more (let's say) blunt operatives, who may have been sent from <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/726052239534637058" target="_blank">Venezuela</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/816652412211576832" target="_blank">Spain</a>, to assault my flat in broad daylight. I will carry on digging, though I guess, for really skilled hacks like Fusion's, there's always the possibility of joining Russia Today, or better yet, Wikileaks.<br />
<br />
The story about Venezuelan monumental corruption is, still, to play out. One thing seems certain though, when it does, Fusion GPS hacks will find impossible to justify their association with criminals.<br />
<br />
<b>Addendum</b>: just read this morning a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443792/russia-donald-trump-intelligence-report-christopher-steele-russian-propaganda-disrupt" target="_blank">piece by David Satter</a>, regarding Fusion GPS's and Christopher Steele's <i>kompromat</i> fabrications, which included "reporting" Trump having been filmed with prostitutes, doing "golden showers", etc. Did I mention that whoever masterminded the attack against me <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">also took the trouble to spread online totally unsubstantiated stories about my alleged "connection" to drug trafficking, extortion, car theft, and (a Russian favourite) "involvement" in paedophilia</a>? The most implausible of all was of course an accusation regarding my mother, <a href="http://infodio.com/140214/carlos/herrera/primicias24/investigative/journalism" target="_blank">who having died of cancer in 1983 was somehow revived and placed, by my creative accusers, as the leader of a drug cartel in 2006!</a> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-23241838015180067972016-12-22T17:03:00.000+00:002016-12-22T17:14:18.510+00:00Our Odebrecht, our Petrobras...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyKkOroAH-wMwxHr4cjSDh6erMbwFWQuMt7-hxtZEFBTbvha59IfHfENbO8zqvHfxtadsgLZeB0L7Yi6tHgFcOAMTO_Io2KByfXhau2Zm_sov5kVMWkvgdoAAXwdpKX9dR9Czzg/s1600/francisco-dagostino-derwick-bribe-payments.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyKkOroAH-wMwxHr4cjSDh6erMbwFWQuMt7-hxtZEFBTbvha59IfHfENbO8zqvHfxtadsgLZeB0L7Yi6tHgFcOAMTO_Io2KByfXhau2Zm_sov5kVMWkvgdoAAXwdpKX9dR9Czzg/s640/francisco-dagostino-derwick-bribe-payments.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
So Odebrecht is in the news again (<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/odebrecht-and-braskem-plead-guilty-and-agree-pay-least-35-billion-global-penalties-resolve" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-271.html" target="_blank">here</a>). For those who don't know, Odebrecht was, till not long ago, one of Brazil's "success" stories: a construction company with operations spanning the globe. It was an exhibit of South America's "entrepreneurship" until Brazilian Justice Sergio Moro decided to take a closer look into the company's activities in the context of Petrobras' massive corruption scandal.<br />
<br />
The core of the issue is, of course, bribe payments to obtain procurement contracts. Odebrecht was at it, as much as any other company, big or small, from LatAm or otherwise, getting deals from governments in the region. <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/derwick-associates-paid-bribes-venezuela.html" target="_blank">That is just how business is done in that part of the world</a>. Whenever procurement contracts aren't assigned directly, using whatever legal emergency provision that allows it, bidding processes tend to be rigged before start: a method typically favoured would be that all companies participating in a given open bid would be under ultimate control of same people.<br />
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Brazil's economy is many times the size of Venezuela's. Odebrecht is one of Brazil's largest and most "successful" corporations. 38% of Odebrecht foreign work is meant to originate in Venezuela, where amount of procurement granted since chavismo took over is believed to be over $20 billion. Odebrecht has admitted to a scheme whereby, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/odebrecht-and-braskem-plead-guilty-and-agree-pay-least-35-billion-global-penalties-resolve" target="_blank">Justice Department</a>, it "paid approximately $788 million in bribes to government officials, their representatives and political parties in a number of countries in order to win business in those countries." Braskem, a petrochemical company controlled by Odebrecht, also pleaded guilty in the international bribe payment scheme.<br />
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And yet, we are meant to believe that of the $788 million Odebrecht only paid $98 million in bribes in Venezuela, to obtain over $20 billion worth of public contracts. This doesn't add up. Regardless of how involved Lula and Dilma Rousseff were in securing contracts directly from Hugo Chavez as a quid pro quo for donations made by Odebrecht to their Workers' Party (PT), $98 million is not even 0.5% of total value. Hardly believable.<br />
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Justice Department's authorities, as commendable as their international fight against corruption is, used some lofty language referring to the case:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit—a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak—that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Suh. “Such brazen wrongdoing calls for a strong response from law enforcement, and through a strong effort with our colleagues in Brazil and Switzerland, we have seen just that. I hope that today’s action will serve as a model for future efforts.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“These resolutions are the result of an extraordinary multinational effort to identify, investigate and prosecute a highly complex and long-lasting corruption scheme that resulted in the payment by the defendant companies of close to a billion dollars in bribes to officials at all levels of government in many countries,” said U.S. Attorney Capers. “In an attempt to conceal their crimes, the defendants used the global financial system – including the banking system in the United States – to disguise the source and disbursement of the bribe payments by passing funds through a series of shell companies. The message sent by this prosecution is that the United States, working with its law enforcement partners abroad, will not hesitate to hold responsible those corporations and individuals who seek to enrich themselves through the corruption of the legitimate functions of government, no matter how sophisticated the scheme.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“This case illustrates the importance of our partnerships and the dedicated personnel who work to bring to justice those who are motivated by greed and act in their own best interest,” said Assistant Director Richardson. “The FBI will not stand by idly while corrupt individuals threaten a fair and competitive economic system or fuel criminal enterprises. Our commitment to work alongside our foreign partners to root out corruption across the globe is unwavering and we thank our Brazilian and Swiss partners for their tireless work in this effort.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“No matter what the reason, when foreign officials receive bribes, they threaten our national security and the international free market system in which we trade,” said Assistant Director in Charge Sweeney. “Just because they’re out of our sight, doesn’t mean they’re beyond our reach. The FBI will use all available resources to put an end to this type of corrupt behavior.”</blockquote>
</blockquote>
My question, to Justice Department officials, U.S. Attorneys, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, DEA, and SEC is: when will you act on the information you already have about Venezuela's Odebrechts? When will you start issuing indictments against PDVSA, Rafael Ramirez, Baldo Sanso, Diego Salazar, Nervis Villalobos, Diosdado Cabello, Wilmer Ruperti, Derwick Associates, David Osio, Danilo Diazgranados, Moris Beracha, Pedro Torres Ciliberto and son, Luis Oberto & co, Victor Vargas, Juan Carlos Escotet, Alejandro Andrade, Leopoldo Gonzalez Dellan et al, all of whom regular users of the "banking system in the United States"? All of whom U.S. residents or regular visitors?<br />
<br />
The Odebrecht case, as its originator the Petrobras corruption scandal, are small play in the greatest Latin American corruption scheme of all: Venezuela and PDVSA. It is no secret that, again, albeit small, the largest amount of bribes paid by Odebrecht took place in Venezuela. The biggest criminal cartel south of the Rio Grande these days is called chavismo, known officially as the Government of Venezuela. Want to deal a significant blow to those who "threaten our national security and the international free market system"? Act on what you have on Venezuela, PDVSA and its U.S. based enablers. Going down that rabbit hole will undoubtedly reveal the most brazen and largest ever corruption scheme this side of Moscow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-33060781768624497132016-11-29T15:47:00.000+00:002016-11-29T16:49:14.984+00:00Entrevista a Armando Valladares sobre muerte de Fidel Castro<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Emb. Armando Valladares</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
La muerte del tirano Fidel Castro ha producido una avalancha de apologías a nivel mundial. Desde el primer ministro de India hasta el de Canada, todos los idiotas útiles del planeta se han pronunciado, sin rubor alguno, sobre las inexistentes bondades de la dictadura castrista. Por ello pensé apropiado entrevistar a alguien que si tuvo que sufrir la dizque "liberación" que los barbudos impusieron por la fuerza en Cuba. Armando Valladares, escritor, poeta, y prisionero de conciencia por 22 años, es aparte de cubano, víctima del castrismo. Quién mejor, para explicar la realidad cubana? Armando es además, <a href="http://scholarship.law.umn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1223&context=faculty_articles" target="_blank">quizás la única persona en el mundo que se puede dar el lujo de afirmar que sus acciones como embajador de los EEUU ante la Comisión de los Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas derrotaron la propaganda y diplomacia castrista en marzo de 1988</a>, lo cual forzó a Cuba a abrir las puertas a observadores internacionales, algo que Fidel nunca habría permitido. Dicha acción puso a Cuba, por primera vez, en la categoría correspondiente a regímenes con graves violaciones a los derechos humanos.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BEN1OD-eIj168o7oG-7-luwOCMA2S95zlG1Wuj1m6EdeLeQ4kKuA-Ya0MxWEMaruw80rlFBr-6pxJzRz3YNAiCjuZB-bigwGUA-VJJQvAyoQV79Bxq4SO5YIKlBvEEhueHxdBA/s1600/cuba-UN-1988%253A106.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3BEN1OD-eIj168o7oG-7-luwOCMA2S95zlG1Wuj1m6EdeLeQ4kKuA-Ya0MxWEMaruw80rlFBr-6pxJzRz3YNAiCjuZB-bigwGUA-VJJQvAyoQV79Bxq4SO5YIKlBvEEhueHxdBA/s640/cuba-UN-1988%253A106.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>- Pregunta: "Si Fidel es comunista, que me pongan en la lista”. De dónde salió ese eslogan, considerando las afirmaciones del propio Castro a Erik Durschmied en Sierra Maestra negando que era comunista / marxista?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Ese slogan fue una campana del Partido Comunista preparando al pueblo para cuando Fidel Castro admitiera que era comunista, no tuviera mucho rechazo. Decían si lo que esta haciendo Fidel Castro -dando tierras (no en propiedad) a los campesinos, rebajando los alquileres etc-, si eso era ser comunista, pues también somos comunistas.<br />
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<i>- Puedes narrar la causa de tu arresto y encarcelamiento por 22 años?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Yo era funcionario del gobierno revolucionario. Un día milicianos armados fueron por todos los departamentos del Ministerio de Comunicaciones colocando en los escritorios un slogan que decía: "si Fidel es comunista, que me pongan en la lista, que estoy de acuerdo con él”. Yo me negué. Los milicianos me preguntaron: "Tu no estás de acuerdo con Fidel…?- Si es comunista NO"- fue mi respuesta. Eso fue suficiente para señalarme como un desafecto a la Revolución, como un contrarrevolucionario. Semanas después me arrestaron en mi casa. Registraron todo y no encontraron armas, ni explosivos, ni propaganda, NADA QUE PUDIERA comprometerme como un conspirador. El oficial de la Policía Política que me interrogo, me dijo: "Mira, no hemos encontrado nada, nadie te acusa, pero tenemos la convicción moral de que eres un enemigo potencial de la Revolución, y por eso te vamos a condenar." En un juicio revolucionario integrado por campesinos, sin abogado defensor, en menos de una semana desde el arresto, fui condenado a 30 años de trabajos forzados y 30 de interdicción política. Mi caso no es excepcional, miles hubo condenados de esa misma forma. Recuerda que los juicios en épocas de Stalin eran así, solo por pensar u opinar los mandaban a Siberia. En Cuba fue exactamente igual.<br />
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<i>- Tu libro “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Contra-toda-esperanza-Armando-Valladares/dp/840135126X" target="_blank">Contra toda esperanza</a>” se convirtió en uno de los libros mas importantes de la literatura sobre prisioneros de conciencia a nivel mundial. Qué opinión te merecen quienes celebran a Castro como liberador del pueblo cubano?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Los que apoyan y justifican los crímenes de los tiranos, pasarán a la historia como cómplices de esos crímenes. Los carniceros de sus pueblos siempre han tenido seguidores y simpatizantes. Los tuvo y tiene Stalin, Hitler, Pinochet, Pol Pot y Ieng Sari de Cambodia, y los tiene Fidel Castro. <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wherry-trudeau-castro-1.3871016" target="_blank">Uno de ellos es el canadiense Justine Trudeau</a>, que Cuba lo tiene comprometido por filmaciones intimas de sus frecuentes viajes a Cuba. Un día, y todo llega, esas filmaciones se harán públicas, sera un Wikileak escandaloso, especialmente para los familiares de esos “amigos” de la revolución cubana. Todo llega... Todo se sabe.<br />
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<i>- Fue tu encarcelamiento un caso aislado, o ejemplo de persecución sistemática contra todos aquellos que la dictadura castrista percibía como enemigos?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Mi caso no fue aislado, arrestaron a miles de cubanos, en tanto los paredones de fusilamiento no dejaban de ejecutar las noches enteras en toda la isla.<br />
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<i>- Una vez en el poder, qué tipo de “avances y logros sociales” trajo la revolución?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Cuba en el 1959, cuando llego Castro, era un país en vías de desarrollo. Solo era superado por EEUU en algunos aspectos. En ese 1959 teníamos más medicos, dentistas y hospitales que Holanda, España, Grecia, etc. El menor indice de mortalidad infantil de toda América, solo superado por EEUU. En 1958 fuimos los segundos en el mundo en tener TV en colores. En ese 1958 el peso cubano valía más que el dólar. Castro ofreció cifras falsas a los periodistas, que deslumbrados y embobecidos por el guerrillero barbudo se convirtieron en cómplices de las mentiras, y prostituyeron su trabajo (lo mismo que hicieron aquí las grandes cadenas (excepto FOX) en la manipulación de la información, en difundir falsedades contra Donald Trump y ya admitido por ellos mismos), y no chequearon esa información. Los invito a que, hoy mismo, busquen los anuarios estadísticos de la ONU, de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, de la Unesco, de la FAO, para comprobar que Cuba no era una aldea donde la gentes se moría de disentería en las calles; que teníamos más dentistas y médicos que el resto de America y muchos países de Europa; que teníamos el más bajo índice de analfabetos, y si les cuesta trabajo revisar esas fuentes, baste que vean lo que hemos hecho en Miami. Pero examinen esos anuarios y comprueben como Castro los engaño a todos...<br />
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<i>- Una de las cartas de presentación del tirano era haber implementado exitosamente en Cuba un sistema de salud y educación ejemplar, no solo en la región sino a nivel mundial. Considerando el estado depauperado del pueblo cubano, puede dársele alguna credibilidad al argumento de que la Cuba castrista mejoró la situación?</i><br />
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Respuesta: La prensa cómplice ha creado esos mitos. Hoy en día es posible gracias al internet saber la verdad. Hay en Cuba hospitales para los jerarcas del gobierno y para los turistas (fuente de divisas), pero el pueblo no tiene acceso a ellos. Si la asistencia médica es tan buena, por qué razón existen en Miami, New York, etc., cientos de empresas cuyo negocio es enviar medicinas a los familiares de los exiliados en Cuba? Miami está lleno de esos negocios. La semana pasada enviamos unas ámpulas de anestesia a un familiar de mi esposa para que pudieran extraerle una muela. Tu conoces de algún inglés que tenga que enviarle a sus familiares en Francia o España antibióticos, aspirinas y vitaminas? Los hospitales del pueblo están llenos de cucarachas y ratones, no hay equipos, tienen que llevar las sabanas y botellas de agua y toallas y no hay medicamentos. Quieres verlo en internet, pues te invito a ti y a tus lectores a que abran esta pagina: <a href="http://www.therealcuba.com/">www.Therealcuba.com</a><br />
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<i>- Por qué inició el tirano la campaña de “conducta impropia”? </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oATGXqa69TA" width="560"></iframe>
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Respuesta: La Revolución persiguió a los homosexuals, los torturó, los machacó por décadas. Discrepar en cualquiera de los lineamientos de la Revolución era “una conducta impropia”. Hay una película muy buena sobre ese proceso.<br />
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<i>- Cuántos cubanos, aproximadamente, fueron recluidos en las Unidades Militares de Ayuda a la Producción?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Decenas de miles. Homesexuales, proxenetas, desafectos, sacerdotes, religiosos, etc.<br />
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<i>- Rachel Ehrenfeld argumenta en su libro “Narco-terrorism” que Fidel Castro básicamente convirtió a Cuba en una plataforma al servicio de los carteles y grupos narco-guerrilleros colombianos. Si agregamos la permisividad del régimen para con la prostitución, utilizada por el propio estado con fines “estratégicos y políticos”, qué diferencia real existe entre Batista y Castro?</i><br />
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Respuesta: Cuba fue la escala intermedia hacia EEUU de los carteles colombianos. Eso quedo demostrado en una operación de la DEA que infiltró a sus agentes en uno de esos viajes. <a href="http://www.elobservador.com.uy/fidel-y-su-alianza-los-narcos-n247015" target="_blank">Raul Castro fue filmado en una base en la costa norte de Cuba mientras transportaban la droga</a>. Se hizo público todo porque hubo un juicio en el Congreso de EEUU. <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1989-06-26/news/mn-3108_1_raul-castro-president-fidel-castro-drug-deals/2" target="_blank">Fueron condenados en ausencia el embajador de Cuba en Colombia, el jefe de la Marina de Guerra cubana Aldo Santamaria Cuadrado y Raul Castro</a>. Por esa razón, observando la leyes norteamericanas, ningún gobierno norteamericano podia negociar nada con Raul Castro, porque está condenado en ausencia por el delito de narcotráfico. Pero el actual Presidente Obama ha violado las leyes y la constitución decenas de veces, y lo hizo negociando con el tirano de turno en Cuba. Bueno en realidad no fue una negociación, fueron concesiones de EEUU a la tiranía cubana a cambio de nada. Obama es cómplice del recrudecimiento de la represión, de las torturas, de los atropellos a los disidentes, de las violaciones a los Derechos Humanos respaldando a esa tiranía. Para que tu como venezolano compares, la diferencia entre la dictadura de Batista y la de Fidel Castro, seria mas o menos como comparar la de Marcos Perez Jimenez y la actual dictadura de Nicolas Maduro.<br />
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<i>- El dictador modeló su imagen internacional casi exclusivamente en la “lucha contra el imperialismo yanqui”. Qué opinas sobre el imperialismo castrista en países centroamericanos, africanos, y más recientemente en Venezuela?</i><br />
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Respuesta: si la dictadura de Fidel Castro se hubiese establecido en Africa o Asia, hace muchísimos años que hubiera desaparecido. La garantía de su larga existencia se debe a su cercanía con los EEUU, y a su enfrentamiento a este gran país. El 99 % del mundo, políticos, gobierno, intelectuales y pueblos en general, ODIAN A EEUU, los corroe la ENVIDIA, y la envidia -decía un autor cubano- es admiración con rabia. Y ese odio y esa rabia, la han canalizado apoyando a quien se ha enfrentado durante décadas a los EEUU, a Fidel Castro, y ellos que no han tenido el valor de hacerlo, en una aberración moral absoluta se han hecho cómplices de los crímenes de Castro en la creencia errónea de que con ese apoyo, le dan en la cabeza a los norteamericanos, y no saben que a ningún norteamericano le importa eso y ni lo sabe. Lo sufrimos nosotros los cubanos, que cuando esperábamos el abrazo solidario de nuestros hermanos latinoamericanos y del mundo, hemos visto con estupor como ese abrazo se lo dan al verdugo del pueblo de Cuba.<br />
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Fidel Castro ha llenado de sangre y de luto miles de hogares latinoamericanos, de Asia y de Africa…ha invadido esos países cuando tenían gobiernos democráticos, como el caso de Venezuela, Colombia etc., y qué han hecho esos países y gobiernos? Besarle el trasero a Castro. Abrazarse con el sin importarles los miles de compatriotas que murieron por la metralla castristas o sus representantes, financiados, entrenados y apoyados por Cuba. Todas, absolutamente todas las guerrillas y grupos terroristas de America, fueron creadas por el tirano que acaba de morir. Hoy con Venezuela es distinto, el pueblo venezolano sabe que la dictadura castrista es la que los oprime.<br />
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<i>- Podrías comentar sobre la esclavitud a la que la dictadura castrista somete a profesionales de la medicina cubana en esas dizque campañas de asistencia internacional, como el “Barrio adentro” en Venezuela?</i><br />
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Respuesta: El trafico humano, el trabajo esclavo, ha sido una de las fuentes de ingresos de divisas del régimen. Recientemente Brasil decidió no pagarle mas al gobierno cubano por los medicos que trabajan en ese país, y decidieron pagarle a los propios medicos. Estos solo recibían el 15% de lo que Cuba le cobraba a Brasil. Y ni siquiera podían recibirlo en Brasil, se lo depositaban en una cuenta en Cuba. Esto para impedir que los profesionales, médicos casi todos, pudieran acumular cierta cantidad en dólares y escapar. Aun así están escapando por cientos. La venta de trabajo esclavo de Cuba es una practica de la cual se benefician decenas de países, hay algunos países democráticos que se convierten en socios de este repugnante negocio. Que bueno que Brasil, ya dejo de hacerlo.<br />
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<i>- Qué esperanza democrática puede abrigar el pueblo cubano con la muerte del dictador?</i><br />
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Respuesta: La muerte del cerebro y el alma diabólica de la Revolución cubana ya se achicharra eternamente en las pailas del infierno. Eso es algo bueno. Hoy el mundo es mejor y mas limpio. Raul Castro se ha mantenido vivo tantos años por que su guardaespaldas, su hermano Fidel Castro, lo ha protegido. Nadie se atrevía a meterse con él. Pero ya el guardaespaldas no está. Dentro del gobierno comunista hay varios grupos o tendencias, y casi todos desprecian a Raul Castro. La muerte de Fidel Castro es el 50% del problema eliminado. Yo pienso que pueden ocurrir cambios ahora dentro de la misma pandilla, y cualquier cosa puede suceder.<br />
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<i>- Finalmente, qué mensaje le enviarías a los numerosos admiradores de Castro?</i><br />
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Respuesta: ya lo comente en una de las preguntas anteriores. Todavía hay gentes que defienden a Hitler, y a Stalin. Cuando los periodistas occidentales entraron con sus cámaras en los campos de concentración nazi, el mundo se horrorizó y hubo muchos que negaban la existencia de aquellos campos de la muerte, que recibieron el desprecio y el repudio de sus contemporáneos y de la historia y quedaron como cómplices. No hay dictadura buena: el crimen y la barbarie son iguales a la derecha que a la izquierda. Y ese doble estándar de aplaudir a una y repudiar a la otra, por exactamente los mismos crímenes, es una zona reservada a la cobardía.<br />
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<b>Armando Valladares. 27 de noviembre del 2016. Fin de la entrevista.</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-8555471121754024102016-11-11T17:13:00.000+00:002016-11-11T18:34:11.000+00:00Fanaticism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Remember this? It wasn't that long ago, was it? Lessons haven't been learned. If anything, the will of the people has been redefined, by almost all media, in most countries, as a retrograde manifestation that ought to be repudiated at every available opportunity.<br />
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But who are the creators of the new dogma? Who are the new oracles, seers, and high priests of post modern morality? Do their knowledge spring from sacred scriptures? From where do these prophets derive their wisdom? What makes their capacity to interpret reality so unique, that only their anointed peers can see it?<br />
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We live in an era of fanaticism, of nihilistic delusion. The motto "<i>après moi le déluge</i>" has lost its reflexive connotation, and has morphed into a collective utopia that inhabits the minds and thoughts of educated elites up and down this world. The shared creed is not to be questioned, and crucially not challenged. Democracy no longer fits the purpose. Consensus? Only to pledge absolute loyalty to the "new" normal. Any deviation from the grand diktats of the PC establishment is to be derided, mocked, ridiculed, and exposed as epitomes of racism, misogyny, ignorance, insularity and brutality across all social, political, religious, academic and media channels under their control. A singular unity and conformity characterises the narrative of this collectivity, as in the most fanatic of sects.<br />
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Interpretations and discourse aren't derived from observation. Consultation does not inform argumentation. Fanatics feed their worldview solely and exclusively from other cabal members. No outside perspective is allowed to pollute considerations. The "new" reality is a construct, wherein poverty, unemployment, and disease do not exist. Worse still, aspirations are forbidden. People that do not know what it is to go hungry, to lose a home, to be chronically unemployed; people that can not see the pitfalls of public education and its consequences, and are incapable of recognising, much less of empathising, with the other are meant to be beacons of morality that should be followed blindly. Only full allegiance will do.<br />
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It is concerning that such an infantile dystopia is shared among many of the Western world's "experts", intellectuals and "cool" politicos, for whom the poor are repugnant, a "basket of deplorables." And it is pervasive, almost omnipresent, Gramscian. Those who vote, and do so with their pockets, stomachs, or feet, deserve nothing but ostracism. Electoral results contrary to those expected by interest-in-possession life tenants, Claret-sipping Guardianistas, and assorted members of the status quo can only bring about cataclysmic chaos, ungovernability: the end of times.<br />
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Hope can only be had for aligned candidates. Revolution? Only against perceived enemies (imperialism, capitalism, etc.) Only the right can be corrupt, and abuse power. Only right-wingers can be racist, and misogynistic. The Big Dog can't do wrong, victims of his predatory sexual abuses are nothing but gold diggers. It is perfectly fine, and beyond reproach, to illegally conduct affairs of State from the kitchen, breach duty of care, and abuse position in get-rich-quick schemes sanctioned by "non for profit" organisations.<br />
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Donald Trump is a piece of work, no doubt. And perhaps America is the only place, well Italy comes to mind, where such a flawed character could reach the highest office. But the Clintons? I mean, seriously? Trump is certainly a member of that establishment that American voters seem so keen on getting rid of. He is as amoral, crooked, and every bit as selfish and megalomaniac as the other two. But instead of making himself unelectable by insulting the electorate, he employed that tried and tested method of telling people what they wanted to hear, something true believers are simply unwilling to even contemplate. American institutions will now have to deal with the resulting mess, checks and balances will guarantee observance to rule of law. Trump is just one clown, an American Hugo Chavez, bent on profiting from people's desperation, though the U.S. is not Venezuela, and soon enough the realities of governing the world's superpower will quickly chuck away all the deranged nonsense spewed during the campaign.<br />
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The others, the 1%, are a sect of deluded, egotistic and dangerous fanatics who live in denial. They will never walk a year in the shoes of a poor person to try to understand why they keep being trumped at the polls. Ultimately, they'll take care of Trump too, either through absorption or ejection, alas the gap with those of us who don't live in their rarefied ecosystem can only grow wider. Brexit brought about Theresa May... An unelected Prime Minister without a mandate. It is doubtful that she'll better the lot of this country's people. Trump does have a mandate, although no one should believe that he'll have an easy ride with GOP-controlled Congress and Senate. In the meantime, Americans and the British continue to lack true representation in politics, an issue that affects populations in many countries around the world. Fanatics won't shine much light on what causes the new normal: upset (for them) at the polls.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-35799504137608240412016-06-26T18:21:00.001+00:002016-06-29T09:17:15.192+00:00That most insolent democracy...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The world at large is incensed. Livid. F%&£ pissed off. Imagine the Brits. The bloody Brits, or Little Englanders as they are now commonly known. They have dared to vote against the grain, against integration, against Christine Lagarde, Barack Obama AND The Guardian! The nerve... Aaaaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!! <i>No joda! El coño de su puta madre con los ingleses</i>!<br />
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Brexit's what you get when you let democracy stand in the way of the grand diktats, the Master Plan, of the PC, progressive, metropolitan, über educated brigade. "How come my vote and that of a chronically unemployed person carries the same weight?" I heard a distinguished-looking Remainer express in utmost indignation in a pub in chic Primrose Hill. Racism works only when Little Englanders decide to exercise their inalienable right to self determination, you see? The Guardianistas know better than anyone else, you dear reader included, what's in everyone else's best interest.<br />
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If an alien had landed from Mars on Friday, it could be forgiven for thinking that life in the British Isles started in 1973. For it was only after acceding to the European Economic Community that the United Kingdom's history started. Forget its rich and illustrious history. Forget the days of Empire and Magna Carta. Forget British idiosyncrasy and their sheer irreverence. Forget also their sense of fairness. Forget Britain's cultural, scientific, political, social, financial, military, academic and democratic additions to human knowledge. None existed. Ever. Eccentricity never took root in these lands. Europeans aren't, all of them, crying Heil Führer every morning because of the resolve, alliances, ingenuity and grit of Brits and Americans. No. They are the free bunch they are today thanks to that Luxembourger architect of one of the world's largest tax avoidance schemes and his sidekicks.<br />
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The experts... Where should I start with them? For almost 17 years I have been hearing "the experts" say that Hugo Chavez is the best thing to have happened in Venezuela. The same "experts" have been diligently affirming that Fidel Castro is the best thing to have happened to Cuba, after all he created one of the "world's best health system". Their knowledge reaches every corner of the world. From China to America (Yanks also riled them when they voted -twice- for W). They sit in Islington, or somewhere in the City, yet they know better than any Arab, Latino, African, Indian or a New Yorker what's in their best interest. Racism does not get any more omniscient than this.<br />
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I never thought I would see the day, to be honest. Being a radical anti chavista earned me the enmity of "the experts" a long time ago. I thought it was just something reserved to little indians and brown people born far away, like in Venezuela for instance. But no. Oh no. Born and bred Brits get exactly the same treatment by sophisticated types. Their voices don't count. That Brexit result? Invalid. Not binding. Irrelevant. Useless. "Let's have it again" they say. "A second referendum is needed". Venezuela is the laughinstock of the Americas because its government is contesting electoral results reached by the people, by the majority. Well, who would have guessed that the whole world's establishment is behaving pretty much like Nicolas Maduro, with respect to the choice voted by the majority of the British people? <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie Dimon and George Osborne (Reuters).</td></tr>
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David Cameron is to go (a Brexit bonus). To be frank, he can't soon enough. Hopefully he'll take that odious and wretched Chancellor with him. I am sure Jamie Dimon will offer them a juicy package. There's also Lagarde, or a cosy half a million quid role in some multilateral or quango where they can continue applying their "expertise" on a part-time consultancy basis. Alas the political situation isn't getting any better. There's fratricide going on at the nasty people's party, while Labour is led by someone infatuated with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.<br />
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Brexit will not only allow this country to get free from any constraint imposed by the likes of Juncker, Merkel, Rajoy, Iglesias, etc. It will also, hopefully, flush away some of its indigenous political turds.<br />
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The British people, however, I am willing to bet the farm on them. I am willing to see what they come up with, how their "keep calm and carry on" nonsensical approach moves this country away from the Armageddon forecasted by "the experts". Self interest of French, German, Polish, etc. impresarios, workers and politicos will prevail, and sooner than you can say Brexit they'll be queueing to carry on and keep their favourable trade balance with the UK (in deficit in most EU-countries cases).<br />
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The world didn't end. I can still see the gliterrati happily drinking in London's fashionable areas. City bankers will find new ways. Dodgy money will keep flowing, probably more so after Brexit. George Soros likely made another pile shorting the Sterling... But this country, in my opinion, gave a lesson, another rather, to the world: Brits do things in their own unique way; Brits do not take orders; elegant irreverence is in their nature; no one should have the temerity to think that it knows better than an Englishman what's in his best interest. It may work with Russians, Chinese, Cubans or Venezuelans. With Greeks even. It worked with the Turks, with a little €6 billion bribe. Not with the Brits, who at the first opportunity gave two fingers to "the experts", to their racism, scaremongering and hatred. <br />
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The Brexit outcome was evident, to this foreigner at least. But then again, what do I know right? I am the guy who spent the last 17 years opposing that most wonderful revolutionary called Hugo Chavez, according to "the experts" the best thing to have happened in Latin America since Che Guevara...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-56396983066029570502016-01-04T16:02:00.001+00:002016-01-04T17:43:17.779+00:00My beef with #DerwickRamosAllup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some folks are calling it a triumph of politics. Others are singing the praises of a politico whose greatest achievement, to date, is to have outmaneuvered a bunch of green, hapless politicians that are totally unaccountable to their constituents. And yet others are just fawning. In Venezuela's absolutely destitute and desperate society, even people who should know better are happily spreading the HenryPonlesunParao hashtag...<br />
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My beef with <strike>Henry</strike> Derwick Ramos Allup is quite simple. About two weeks <a href="http://infodio.com/191114/agents/chavismo/break/in/blogger/london" target="_blank">after some chavista thugs broke into my flat, in London, to steal my laptops and to leave pictures of my daughters to terrorise and silence me</a>, Mr Ramos Allup thought fitting to use his position, as <a href="http://acciondemocratica.org.ve/adport/henry-ramos-allup-laboratorio-sucio/" target="_blank">Secretary General of Acción Democrática, to attack me</a>, claiming (highlighted in picture):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...blogueros delincuentes prófugos de la justicia nacional e internacional
por delitos de narcotráfico, atraco, violación y lesiones...</blockquote>
Translation:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...delinquent bloggers, wanted by local and international justice for drug trafficking, assault, sexual abuse and injuries... </blockquote>
Though Ramos Allup did not mention it explicitly, <a href="http://caracaschronicles.com/2015/01/09/regarding-henry/" target="_blank">every one knew he was referring to me</a>. Why would Ramos Allup write that I was allegedly wanted for drug trafficking, etc.? What was the basis, where was the evidence?<br />
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Ramos Allup had been fed highly defamatory, and totally spurious, claims about me. The source of those claims, which Ramos Allup presumably had no reason to question, was his own family. For it has to be said and repeated, loud and clear, that Henry Ramos Allup, newly elected president of Venezuela's Congress, is the brother in law of <a href="http://infodio.com/140114/otto-reich-files-amendment-lawsuit-against-derwick-associates" target="_blank">Francisco D'Agostino</a>, one of the <a href="http://infodio.com/021014/how/to/steal/70/million/one/day/derwick/associates/bariven/proenergy" target="_blank">Associates at Derwick</a>. Henry Ramos Allup is married to <a href="https://twitter.com/diana_dagostino" target="_blank">Diana D'Agostino</a>, Francisco's sister. The patriarch of the <a href="http://rncenlinea.snc.gob.ve/planilla/index/645175?mostrar=INF" target="_blank">D'Agostino family is Franco</a>: one of the most corrupt contractors of the period now known in Venezuela as "la cuarta republica", i.e. the 40 years that preceded Hugo Chavez's election.<br />
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<a href="http://infodio.com/node/703" target="_blank">I challenged Ramos Allup to show evidence of his claims</a>, and I am -still- waiting for a reply. Ramos Allup loves to claim that his use and command of the Spanish language is "impeccable", and yet, he wrote a libellous piece that does not contain a single shred of verifiable evidence, admitting that it was based on an <a href="http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Ramos-Allup-responde-presuntas-corrupcion_0_565143701.html" target="_blank">anonymous report that he had received in an unmarked envelope</a>. So here we have, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35220773" target="_blank">incoming Chair of Venezuela's Congress</a> attacking innocent people on the basis of anonymous reports received from unknown sources.<br />
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In his utter chutzpah, Ramos Allup even claimed that he knows what has gone on with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54rjRHqWma8" target="_blank">media acquisitions in Venezuela</a> (first exposed <a href="http://infodio.com/050714/spain/epalisticia/el/universal/venezuela" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://infodio.com/291013/venezuela/cadena/capriles/latam/media/holding/hanson/asset/management" target="_blank">here</a>), going as far as saying that those selling may have problems explaining source of funds when trying to get them out of Venezuela. He even mentions a Portuguese bank where Derwick has stashed some of its ill gotten money. Surely, he must have issued similar warnings over the years to his brother in law and father in law, right?<br />
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Is this the kind of politico that will get the new Congress to put a stop to rampant corruption in Venezuela? I shall wear as a badge of honour that both outgoing Chair of Congress #narcodiosdado and incoming Chair #DerwickRamosAllup have blocked me on Twitter, for in my view corruption has no political colour, it's like human rights and it admits only one stance: for or against.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-85872195037964996022015-12-20T11:04:00.000+00:002015-12-20T12:39:04.947+00:00Roberto Rincon arrested in Houston for money laundering<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The news in the Venezuelan Twitter sphere last night was the arrest in Houston (unconfirmed by official sources as of this writing) of Roberto Rincon and Abraham Shiera.<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/cocando/status/678314754100879360">Journalist Casto Ocando said on Twitter</a> that Rincon had been arrested for money laundering in association with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), adding that members of a "<a href="https://twitter.com/cocando/status/678319990429323264">Homeland Security's elite unit of financial of crimes had been investigating Rincon for years</a>" prior to his arrest.<br />
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Sources consulted confirmed, extra officially, that Rincon and Shiera had indeed been arrested.<br />
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Journalist Cesar Batiz did a <a href="http://www.armando.info/sitio/index.php?id=17&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=110&cHash=8">thorough profile on Rincon and his business empire</a>. <br />
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Further leaks to this site reveal an interesting detail: right after <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/retired-venezuelan-general-hugo-carvajal-detained-on-u-s-petition-1406227366">Hugo Carvajal was arrested in Aruba by the DEA</a>, Rincon (an long time partner of Carvajal) started traveling on a diplomatic passport, no 0841947189, as shown in picture (below). Furthermore, when Dutch authorities in Aruba <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28519313">decided to release Carvajal</a>, (since 2008 in OFAC kingpins list for "<a href="https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp1132.aspx">materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization</a>") on some technicality (more on pressure from chavista regime) <a href="https://settysoutham.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/the-curious-case-of-n9gy/">Rincon's plane (N9GY) took Carvajal back to Venezuela</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK8HnU2rSVQDnBExe8WuAM8d7i9XL2dGeW7P4mYfrZQq6l1E39RH96pCyui4PruHalIAXJI__0GDgckGGnYkKOVsm5aCBJxyJGVuAi7P0Sa6-oN7ZdAfSsds2fAXz4wvpin1ANQ/s1600/roberto-rincon-pasaporte-diplomatico.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidK8HnU2rSVQDnBExe8WuAM8d7i9XL2dGeW7P4mYfrZQq6l1E39RH96pCyui4PruHalIAXJI__0GDgckGGnYkKOVsm5aCBJxyJGVuAi7P0Sa6-oN7ZdAfSsds2fAXz4wvpin1ANQ/s640/roberto-rincon-pasaporte-diplomatico.png" width="640" /> </a></div>
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<br />And who do we see, as a regular passenger since Feb 2010 of Rincon's N9GY jet? None other than Abraham Shiera, also arrested with Rincon. For a backgrounder on both Rincon and Shiera (and other respected members of the chavista Boliburgeoisie) and their virtual spin doctor of choice, <a href="https://settysoutham.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/who-protects-reputation-for-the-bolibourgeoisie/">Setty has a thorough investigation here</a>. </div>
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Venezuelan immigration records show Rincon and Shiera using a fleet of N-plate jets for their travels: N999GY, N91GY, N9GY, N723AA, N200CV, N604RR, N112WJ, N840TC, N713SA, N900DL, N727AT, N556HJ, and N245MS. Lots of trip between Maracaibo and Bogota, Aruba, Panama, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-53878576156840054752015-12-08T13:05:00.003+00:002015-12-08T19:09:12.589+00:00#speechlessStill trying to come to terms with the <a href="http://www.cne.gob.ve/resultado_asamblea2015/r/0/reg_000000.html">enormity of what happened in Venezuela a couple days ago</a>. Still difficult to believe that a bunch of thugs, otherwise knows as chavismo, with so many skeletons in their closets, with so much to lose, with their immediate freedom in great peril, sort of gave up, conceding an election. An election, in Venezuela, just like that.<br />
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Now I'm on the record, railing against the fairness and transparency of what's come to be known as the "world's best electoral system." I am perhaps the Venezuelan blogger that has written more on the topic. My investigation into the way in which Smartmatic came to be the provider of choice for electoral processes in Venezuela started sometime in 2004, and is still ongoing. The website I created and used to run, vcrisis.com, published in 2006 perhaps the first ever audit, in English, of Venezuela's electoral roll. In 2007, Hugo Chavez thought he would become Emperor of Venezuela. He proposed such far ranging amendments to the constitution, that even his own followers turned their backs and didn't back it up. We are still waiting for the final results of that vote, the only one Chavez ever lost. In August 2004, there was a recall referendum on Chavez's stay in power. After years of negotiations between opposition parties' representatives, government and international mediators, Venezuelan electoral authorities announced, in the early hours of the morning as it has become norm, that Chavez had won by an almost 20% margin. No one checked that results announced were correct. No one could. As a matter of historical fact, no observer, international or otherwise, was allowed to witness the final tally. Opposition representatives did not have a clue of what was happening within the bowels of the Ministry of Elections. Carter Center and OAS representatives fucked up, big time, in safeguarding ballot boxes in the places where they were stationed, and in further guaranteeing that the joke of an audit conducted three days after was done properly. In 2005, an opposition technician showed during an audit in front of international observers that the secrecy of the vote was compromised. Another audit, of the electoral roll organized by the electoral body, ended up concluding that the roll simply wasn't fit for purpose.<br />
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All of that hung in my mind, like a hanged body. Like something you just can't ignore when trying to inform a decision on whether the electoral, under such circumstances, was ever to become a viable solution to get rid of chavismo's power stranglehold. I became an advocate, and wrote countless words about how the opposition, armed with nothing but current legislation, should demand conditions, as dictated by law. I railed against the opposition, endlessly, for accepting the unilateral, and illegal, imposition of unfair electoral conditions. Time and time again I argued what I thought was only fair, and self evident.<br />
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So count me among those who were skeptical about elections in Venezuela, among those who denigrated an opposition leadership that never stood up for our electoral rights. But then Sunday happened (6D). With all of the above, against a State that bracenly used all power available to it, legal and otherwise, Venezuelans voted massively against chavismo, against the hunger, violence, misery and, above all, against the hardship that chavismo has unleashed like a curse on Venezuela. I will be hated for this, but I will call it a punishment vote (voto castigo). Venezuelans, chavistas or not, voted against chavismo. The monumental clusterfuck that Venezuela has become is chavismo's, and chavismo's only, legacy. But within it, in its defined political context, I admit I was never expecting such a quick, zanahoria, give up. People with so much at stake aren't supposed to give up without a proper fight. In all honesty I never thought this would happen, and oh have I been proved wrong!<br />
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As some people heard my rants against electoral authorities, I heard an endless stream of arguments against the opposition's lack of a program, a manifesto, a plan: "you can't beat chavismo without a plan... you have to win hearts and minds... warm up to chavistas so they vote opposition..." and on, and on. Well, it wasn't the opposition. It was all chavismo, and THEIR plan. It was THEIR utter destruction of every fabric of Venezuelan society which pushed the majority to the opposition's arms.<br />
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Still speechless, but tremendously happy and slightly hopeful, I am eager to keep being lectured, and proved wrong, for that'll mean further steps towards a democratic, peaceful and progressive Venezuela for all. There are gargantuan problems ahead: corruption being, in my opinion, the most important. As I write this, there's already talk about Henry Ramos Allup becoming President of the new Congress. I don't think a man like him should even be considered as worthy of that kind of responsibility, and that's what makes me a lifetime-member of the opposition. But for now, I can only be grateful towards my compatriots.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-6704654837187614092015-09-15T15:20:00.002+00:002015-09-16T17:07:35.939+00:00Chavista propaganda brings disrepute to Foreign Policy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWXZc4I9s1T-WKNPrzOby2QiwZcehnRURs05TlFsbEbOG-NyiBikZ8rsFemw226KsSXmcObYQGvsfSayBsaoALwp9iXv7ApTtyRweW34xbcizMwQYtp3ESPYfOSRIs8WvZI3ujVw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.19.32.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWXZc4I9s1T-WKNPrzOby2QiwZcehnRURs05TlFsbEbOG-NyiBikZ8rsFemw226KsSXmcObYQGvsfSayBsaoALwp9iXv7ApTtyRweW34xbcizMwQYtp3ESPYfOSRIs8WvZI3ujVw/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.19.32.png" width="301" /></a></div>
Got late to the <a href="https://twitter.com/pburelli/status/641057661614727168" target="_blank">party</a>, must admit. The <a href="https://twitter.com/erikwemple/status/642433384854196224" target="_blank">discussion at hand</a> is -yet another- exhibit of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism" target="_blank">yellow journalism</a>, this time by the otherwise reputed <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/27/the-making-of-leopoldo-lopez-democratic-venezuela-opposition/" target="_blank">Foreign Policy magazine</a>.<br />
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In short, a <a href="https://twitter.com/robvato" target="_blank">propagandist of the Maduro regime</a> was caught, as we say, "cagando y sin papel". Before anyone thinks that my use of the term propagandist is inaccurate, or unfair, here we have Mr Rob Lovato, described as a "writer and scholar", who does not find relevant to disclose to publications that presumably commission jobs to him, to reveal professional relations that bring unavoidable conflicts of interests.<br />
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So let's say that the editors of Foreign Policy got a "profile" of Leopoldo Lopez (Vzlan opposition leader <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/venezuela-sentence-against-opposition-leader-shows-utter-lack-of-judicial-independence/" target="_blank">recently condemned to nearly 14 years imprisonment</a>) from Mr Lovato. Given that the piece was meant to have been "reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, with support from the Puffin Foundation", one must presume that necessary editorial consideration was given to the facts presented by all editors involved.<br />
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After publication, information about <a href="http://multimedia.telesurtv.net/web/telesur/#!en/lista/programa/americans" target="_blank">Mr Lovato's professional relations with TELESUR surfaced</a>. To those who may have missed it, TELESUR is a Pan-American, Venezuela-funded, chavista "news" channel, as <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/putins-russia-today.html" target="_blank">trustworthy and objective as Putin's Russia Today</a>. It remains to be seen whether Lovato disclosed to Foreign Policy and The Nation that he had been previously contracted by TELESUR to do some programs, and later produced the "profile" on Lopez.<br />
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According to <a href="https://twitter.com/JaredGenser/status/641230182574092288" target="_blank">Lopez's lawyers</a> and Pedro Burelli (mentioned throughout Lovato's piece) the article contains several inaccuracies, which Foreign Policy seems to be aggregating as "clarifications and corrections" at the end of the article.<br />
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But now we know that Lovato has been taking cues from Venezuela Information Office propagandists in Hugo Chavez's employ since, at least, September 2007, when Mr Lovato was a writer for New America Media and The Nation, and was being asked by chavistas to, basically, "publish oped": read regurgitate propaganda.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG72XC6Nuedayj1H3igw1a-C7pAVz5Fx4otIZ7UPsQjOlKhprRCpIqBsmoTscyTzHBa3tLO8gdLe-6VhHA6k47HcacAQix8NJTMGR4ssCObFhDBbL4dHR2kDqvrwZW3T3DFWDIKw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.58.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="22" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG72XC6Nuedayj1H3igw1a-C7pAVz5Fx4otIZ7UPsQjOlKhprRCpIqBsmoTscyTzHBa3tLO8gdLe-6VhHA6k47HcacAQix8NJTMGR4ssCObFhDBbL4dHR2kDqvrwZW3T3DFWDIKw/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.58.11.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5w-8KZdbLHmoUEtB-5ABg9539OtMVzbyqzPajEol2RsEktcEs4kso2n1SDGEF3-dz6npazsQ5Sn1UthjHhUexrg3oJ-yJ163RTj7VTt8GRLqYBM-2W2igsLkSLlxYmVV2tgyrdg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.58.30.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="24" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5w-8KZdbLHmoUEtB-5ABg9539OtMVzbyqzPajEol2RsEktcEs4kso2n1SDGEF3-dz6npazsQ5Sn1UthjHhUexrg3oJ-yJ163RTj7VTt8GRLqYBM-2W2igsLkSLlxYmVV2tgyrdg/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-09-15+at+15.58.30.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The two images above come from <a href="http://www.fara.gov/docs/5609-Supplemental-Statement-20080327-6.pdf" target="_blank">FARA reports</a> filed by the now-extinct <a href="http://vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200406211040" target="_blank">Venezuela Information Office, a Venezuelan government-financed and Venezuelan embassy-managed "information office" run from Washington DC.</a> Did Lovato ever disclose this to The Nation and Foreign Policy?</div>
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Chavistas are having a ball with U.S. media these days. Whether is <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/derwick-steals-over-billion-bloomberg-whitewashes.html" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="http://caracaschronicles.com/2013/09/27/dear-forbes-do-you-realize-what-hilarykramer-is-using-your-brand-for/" target="_blank">Forbes</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/pburelli/status/643800003136344066" target="_blank">Foreign Policy</a>, it seems to be getting easier for sly operators to get past clueless editors that can't be bothered to apply a minimum of editorial rigour to demonstrably unsubstantiated BS.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-53242453849289742182015-09-01T08:18:00.001+00:002015-09-01T08:28:29.605+00:00CAJUBI fraud: Marcelo Barone arrested in London<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://s3-sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/assets.abc.com.py/2015/08/30/marcelo-barone-y-su-esposa-elisabel-vazquez-detenidos-en-inglaterra-_888_573_1273369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://s3-sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/assets.abc.com.py/2015/08/30/marcelo-barone-y-su-esposa-elisabel-vazquez-detenidos-en-inglaterra-_888_573_1273369.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Marcelo Barone and Elisabel Vazquez (photo from ABC Color, Paraguay)</b></td></tr>
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Readers might remember an investigation / collaboration I did in 2012 with <a href="https://twitter.com/mrehnfeldt" target="_blank">Mabel Renhfeldt</a> from Paraguay about a Venezuelan couple, <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/marcelo-barone-cajubi-paraguay.html" target="_blank">Marcelo Barone and Elisabel Vazquez, who had defrauded some $36 million from a workers' fund in CAJUBI</a>, the Brazilian-Paraguayan entity in charge of running <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaipu_Dam" target="_blank">Itaipu's dam</a>.<br />
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As it turns, Barone, who was running from Paraguayan justice and is <a href="http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2012-316606" target="_blank">listed as wanted by INTERPOL</a> along <a href="http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2012-319991" target="_blank">wife / partner in crime Vazquez</a>, was finally <a href="http://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/detienen-a-marcelo-barone-en-londres-1401298.html" target="_blank">arrested in London on 23 August according to Paraguayan media</a>. A hearing in London today will determine whether <a href="http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/judiciales-y-policiales/barone-tendra-manana-su-audiencia-de-revision-1402984.html" target="_blank">Barone is released on bail, or whether he will remain in jail until January 2016 as per Paraguay's extradition request process</a>.<br />
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Details of the whereabouts of Vazquez remain sketchy. Some reports claim Vazquez is in a clinic somewhere in London, while others suggest she was also arrested.<br />
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It is a matter of great pride to have collaborated in this investigation, and to see that authorities in some parts of the world are actually doing something against corruption.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10659894.post-14972746432717771502015-08-21T17:33:00.003+00:002015-08-21T18:03:28.937+00:00Steal over a billion > Bloomberg'll call it 'family feud'The message from the <a href="https://twitter.com/TiffanyKary" target="_blank">Bloomberg reporter</a> read:<br />
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"<i>Hi, I'm a reporter doing something on Derwick. Can I give you a call to ask a couple of questions?</i>"</blockquote>
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By this time, it's evident emails and calls are standard procedure of journalists / researchers reporting Venezuela, just to cover their backs and say "yeah, we called the guy, he gave us <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/derwick-associates-paid-bribes-venezuela.html" target="_blank">the usual</a> about Mr Betancourt and his Derwick co..."</div>
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While I admit it is utterly unprofessional to be posting emails sent privately without the other party's consent, I just can't honor convention with reporters that epitomise unprofessionalism. After receiving the message above I called the reporter, and answered the "couple of questions" and more. But this is precisely the problem of editorial desks and journalists around the world: to think that a meaningful story can be produced by asking "a couple of questions". Invariably, initial niceties are followed by "I don't know anything about Venezuela..." or "this story is well beyond my area of expertise..."</div>
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When one asks clueless reporters what would happen in their countries should a <a href="https://cryptome.org/2015/06/ve-us-corruption.htm" target="_blank">Derwick-like scandal take place</a>, all of them, without failure, say "yeah, I guess you're right, it would be a scandal, heads would roll..."</div>
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So why the difference? Why is it that reporting corruption-related issues in America and Europe gain lots of traction, catapult to stardom whoever brings them to light, official probes ensue, but <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/derwick-associates-paid-bribes-venezuela.html" target="_blank">doing same about under-developed countries</a> gets spun into '<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-21/man-who-spoiled-pacific-rubiales-oil-deal-has-a-plan-for-growth" target="_blank">family feuds</a>'?</div>
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Venezuelans can only feel envy at what's happening in Brazil, with Petrobras, Odebrecht, etc. That however, as dramatic as it may seem, is children's play next to what goes on in our country. Corruption in PDVSA and Venezuela is orders of magnitude larger that whatever's been done in Brazil, and yet, Venezuela's most notorious gang of corrupt businessmen are presented as entrepreneurial mavericks. This is beyond sickening, and not the first time that Bloomberg misrepresents Venezuelan thugs.</div>
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Once upon a time, <a href="http://caracaschronicles.com/2013/09/27/dear-forbes-do-you-realize-what-hilarykramer-is-using-your-brand-for/" target="_blank">Forbes was made to retract an attempt at whitewashing Derwick</a>, but <a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/581508563333419008" target="_blank">they seem to have a soft spot for Bolichoros</a>. Same goes with <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/derwick-alejandro-betancourt-pacific-rubiales.html" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> and its reporting of Derwick. Money laundering of the <a href="http://alekboyd.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/pacific-rubiales-ohara-derwick-money-laundering.html" target="_blank">multimillion dollar kind</a> is called "growth plan". Corruption, bribes, no-bid contracting and misappropriation of public funds through massive overcharges by Derwick execs is called "a family divided over his business dealings with Chavez’s government." Probes by U.S. Federal agencies, Manhattan's DA, and Spain's anti money laundering authorities, and investigative reports exposing lack of credentials get summarised as "certain relatives who weren’t happy". Doublespeak that would make Goebbels, or chavismo, proud.</div>
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Bloomberg's hacks are yet to awake to the realities of Venezuelan corruption. Producing copy, without asking any proper questions, seem to be their sole remit. And that would be fine, if it weren't a business-oriented publication. As it is, failing to establish clear and evident links between shell companies and proxies of thugs being investigated in at least two jurisdictions is inexcusable, hard to take it as mere unprofessionalism. Failing to mention forays into business areas unrelated to Derwick's alleged expertise is equally concerning, for it is now common knowledge that Derwick has a hand in Petrodelta -<a href="http://investor.shareholder.com/harvestnr/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=918714" target="_blank">through Francisco D'Agostino</a>- and in Petrozamora -<a href="https://twitter.com/alekboyd/status/632982882680709120" target="_blank">through Orlando Alvarado, in association with PDVSA and Russian interests (Gazprom)</a>. Why is this not mentioned?</div>
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When did Derwick become an oil-focused company and what credentials, aside the stolen millions that allowed for such, have their execs? What track record -in oil- do they bring to the table? Why is Bloomberg regurgitating Derwick's BS instead of asking questions pertinent to shareholders and interested parties?</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1