Para quienes venimos siguiendole la pista a la corrupción en Venezuela el caso Derwick Associates es, podría decirse, único. Es difícil encontrar casos similares, y ello, viniendo de un país en el cual la corrupción es parte de la idiosincrasia como en Venezuela, es mucho decir. Para ponerlo simple: Derwick Associates recibió 12 contratos en 14 meses durante la emergencia eléctrica decretada por el difunto Hugo Chavez en el 2009. Tal numero de contratos, cuyo monto total solo Derwick y el régimen chavista conocen, bien podría exceder los 3.000 millones de dólares. Lo extraordinario, es que Derwick Associates ha sido demandada en Nueva York por nada menos que Otto Reich, antiguo Secretario de Asuntos Hemisféricos del Departamento de Estado, y antiguo Embajador de EEUU en Venezuela. Reich los acusa de haber violado Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Travel Act, federal wire fraud statute.
Reich dice haber perdido miles de dólares debido a las intrigas de Derwick Associates, de forma que aparte de corruptos resultaron chismosos los bolichicos. Resulta que Derwick Associates demando en el 2012 -en Miami- al Banco Venezolano de Crédito (BVC) y a Oscar Garcia Mendoza, por 300 millones de dólares, alegando que tanto BVC como Garcia Mendoza estaban detrás del portal wikiantocorrupcion.org, el cual publicó, entre muchos otros, detalles de los "negocios" de Derwick Associates. Toda esta actividad legal en Miami trajo como consecuencia que agencias federales e instituciones americanas (como el Departamento de Estado, Departamento del Tesoro, FBI y Securities and Exchange Commission) se interesaran por el caso y andan investigando.
En el interim, Reich estaba ayudando a Eligio Cedeño (otro boliburgués de dudosa reputación), a conseguir refugio en EEUU. La relación con Cedeño le estaba generando 20.000 dólares mensuales a Reich. Cuando Derwick inicio la demanda contra el BVC y Garcia Mendoza, el banco estaba considerando contratar los servicios de Reich. Derwick entonces trato de sobornarlo con promesas de "mucho dinero". Cuando esto falló sembraron el chisme de que Reich en realidad estaba trabajando para ellos, lo cual produjo, según la demanda, no solo el despido de Reich por parte de Cedeño, sino la imposibilidad de que el BVC contratase sus servicios (por otros 20.000 dólares).
Los demandados son Alejandro Betancourt Lopez, su primo Pedro Trebbau Lopez, y Francisco D'Agostino. Betancourt y Trebbau son directivos de Derwick. D'Agostino es yerno de Victor Vargas, dueño del Banco Occidental de Descuento. D'Agostino también es cuñado de Henry Ramos Allup (la hediondez de la corrupción toca tanto al régimen como a la oposición). Se desconoce hasta ahora cómo fue D'Agostino a parar a esa demanda, aun cuando se especula que está detrás de la reciente compra de Intercable por parte de Derwick y ha hecho otros negocios con los bolichicos. Pero también aparece un tal Eduardo Travieso, quien hasta hace poco trabajaba para JP Morgan, uno de los bancos más respetados de EEUU. Resulta que el Travieso estudio, o fue al mismo colegio en Caracas que Trebbau, son panas, de atrás, antes que cualquiera de ellos se ganase el primer centavo o hiciese el primer "negocio". Una vez en JP Morgan (Nueva York) el Travieso empezó a hacer travesuras: compraba bonos por millones de dólares, los cuales vendía inmediatamente. Los fondos para las compras de bonos venían de Derwick. Parece ser que nadie en JP Morgan se preocupo nunca por establecer la legitimidad de origen de todo ese dinero (producto de la corrupción). Luego de la venta de dichos bonos, por supuesto que cualquier cuestionamiento de dineros provenientes de JP Morgan está fuera de lugar. Así, Derwick legitimó millones de dólares robados en Venezuela a través de JP Morgan. Unas veces para pagar a empresas americanas subcontratistas, como ProEnergy Services, otras veces para pagar los servicios de "relacionistas públicos" como el republicano Al Cardenas y FTI Consulting, y otras para pagar a su cancerbero legal Hector Torres, quien se ha dedicado a amedrentar y amenazar a periodistas como Cesar Batiz, blogueros como Miguel Octavio y Steven Bodzin, analistas financieros como Toby Bottome de Veneconomía, y medios digitales como Forbes.
Pero el dinero malhabido también dio para jets, apartamentos en Nueva York, cotos de caza en España, y fastuosas bodas. El espectáculo del nuevoriquismo de los bolichicos es tal, que nadie, en ningún lado, viendo su comportamiento, puede concluir, como ellos pretenden hacer creer, que vienen de familias adineradas. Se les ocurrió demandar al BVC, se dice que por ordenes de Jose Vicente Rangel, y salieron, como era de esperarse, con el rabo entre las piernas. Se les ocurrió amenazar a la prensa, a blogueros y a periodistas, llegando incluso a usar al SEBIN como una especie de servicio de seguridad privada. Tal es la impunidad con la actúan que mandaron al SEBIN y a una empresa de seguridad privada llamada SERSECO a investigar a Batiz, a intervenirle las comunicaciones, se le metieron en su casa, le pusieron un tracker satelital a su carro, llamaron a su madre y lo andaban siguiendo. Pero no solo en Venezuela queda el asunto: Reich alega que documentos relacionados con la demanda de Derwick contra el BVC "desaparecieron" del archivo publico de la corte de Miami-Dade.
Como que nadie les dijo, a estos advenedizos recién vestidos, que atacar a la prensa es mal negocio, y meterse con periodistas galardonados internacionalmente peor aun. Mandar al SEBIN a amedrentar gente en Venezuela es casi normal, pero mandar a desaparecer documentos públicos de una corte en EEUU? Se les ocurrió también inventar cosas y sembrar rumores de uno de los funcionarios del Departamento de Estado con más trayectoria, contactos, y experiencia y desde ya puede aseverarse que lo que les viene es candela. Todo lo anterior con una más que cuestionable trayectoria. Como que no hay mente clara ni voz sensata en el entorno de Derwick, nadie les ha dicho, a estos empresarios ejemplares, como dice el presidente de PDVSA Rafael Ramirez, que el que tiene rabo de paja no debe acercarse a la candela. Por cierto, Ramirez también está mencionado en la demanda, así como Nervis Villalobos, Rodolfo Sanz, Javier Alvarado, Francisco Convit, y otro de los bancos predilectos del régimen: DAVOS Financial de David Osío. El nombre de Diosdado Cabello también aparecerá por ahí. Todos los anteriores parecen estar embarrados con los imberbes de Derwick, sea en la malversación de millones de dólares a través del otorgamiento de contratos sin licitación, sea en la colaboración en el blanqueo de capitales producto de la corrupción, sea en el soborno a funcionarios públicos para la obtención ilegal de contratos, o sea en la aceptación de sobornos.
La demanda de Reich va a traer cola, y mucha. No es Luisa Estela Morales la que va a ver el caso...
2 August 2013
18 July 2013
This blogger will move to infodio.com
From now on, I shall be blogging at a new address:
http://infodio.com
The reason? I don't like agents of Chavez or his apprentices censoring perfectly valid and legitimate info on the basis of bogus copyright infringement notices (DMCA).
http://infodio.com
The reason? I don't like agents of Chavez or his apprentices censoring perfectly valid and legitimate info on the basis of bogus copyright infringement notices (DMCA).
15 July 2013
Edward Snowden Meet Franklin Chaparro; a Taste for How Journalists are Treated in Venezuela
There's a lot of talk in Venezuela these days about whether Edward Snowden is going to end up in Caracas, protected and supported by chavismo. Snowden, already famous worldwide for revealing how the US government spies on its people, said recently that Venezuela had his "gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless..."
Cesar Batiz is not a whistleblower but an award winning journalist. Venezuela is a country where the Thin Blue Line isn't the police but, rather, intrepid journalists and muckrakers in the best sense of the word. Batiz works in Ultimas Noticias (Venezuela's most-read newspaper). In 2011 Batiz published a couple of articles about a developing corruption scandal in the energy sector. Derwick Associates, a company that came out of nowhere, was granted 12 contracts in 14 months to, basically, solve Venezuela's power crisis. Derwick overbilled in the hundreds of millions of dollars and likely split the difference with their friends in the Chavez government. And how did Chavez's cronies in the private sector, and the Venezuelan government itself react to this journalist's corruption exposé?
Here's how.
Meet Franklin Chaparro (pictured). He owns a security company called Servicios de Seguridad Consolidados (SERSECO). Chaparro started out as a fireman, got into security, was at one point "commissar" of DISIP (former intelligence police force) and ended up in the private sector. His work in the security field is widely known and respected in Venezuela. He has a radio programme. He is also a leading voice within FEDECAMARAS (business group) and his success has been featured in business publications. His company is the representative for Venezuela and the Caribbean of Garrett.
Sources inside SERSECO have revealed that Chaparro, who pontificates about "the huge moral crisis" affecting Venezuela and how he "respects the dignity of people", has done work for Derwick Associates. His remit, however, is not confined to merely providing Derwick Associates execs with dozens of bodyguards. Derwick's young turks were getting paranoid about the level of detail in Batiz's journalistic reports about their crimes, and so they wanted to establish whether anyone within their organisation was leaking information to Batiz. And so, Chaparro was asked to spy on Cesar Batiz.
Chaparro, who has a history with the intelligence police, must have gotten hold of his old chums to lend a hand. When I asked Batiz about this he said that a satellite tracker was placed in his car. Men in motorcycles were commissioned to follow his every move. His work diary -where Batiz kept copious notes of his investigations, contacts, telephones, appointments, etc.- suddenly got "lost" in his own home. His email was hacked. In addition, his elderly mother got threatening phone calls from the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN). The SEBIN is the new DISIP, where Chaparro was a commander. Batiz himself was also called in, repeatedly, by SEBIN operatives, who demanded that he presented himself in their offices to be questioned about his sources.
Unlike Snowden, Batiz is not revealing secret official surveillance plans (but it's about time someone blew the whistle on how Venezuela spies on its own people). Instead, Batiz is publicising corruption in the billions of dollars, in a country with a government supposedly devoted to the poor. Batiz's rights have not been respected. His work has been sought to be discredited, not in the press as would happen in true democracies, but by a private security company working in cahoots with the country's intelligence services, while Derwick Associates used its contacts with high government officials to have the country's intelligence services act as its private security contractors. Imagine the front page coverage in America if a private security firm partnered with the FBI, without official sanction, to persecute Glenn Greenwald, hack his email, track his car, harrass his mother, and bring him in for questioning. Not for publishing the government's surveillance system, but for exposing theft and graft. That's the Venezuela that Snowden respects...
Cesar Batiz is not a whistleblower but an award winning journalist. Venezuela is a country where the Thin Blue Line isn't the police but, rather, intrepid journalists and muckrakers in the best sense of the word. Batiz works in Ultimas Noticias (Venezuela's most-read newspaper). In 2011 Batiz published a couple of articles about a developing corruption scandal in the energy sector. Derwick Associates, a company that came out of nowhere, was granted 12 contracts in 14 months to, basically, solve Venezuela's power crisis. Derwick overbilled in the hundreds of millions of dollars and likely split the difference with their friends in the Chavez government. And how did Chavez's cronies in the private sector, and the Venezuelan government itself react to this journalist's corruption exposé?
Here's how.
 |
| Franklin Chaparro |
Sources inside SERSECO have revealed that Chaparro, who pontificates about "the huge moral crisis" affecting Venezuela and how he "respects the dignity of people", has done work for Derwick Associates. His remit, however, is not confined to merely providing Derwick Associates execs with dozens of bodyguards. Derwick's young turks were getting paranoid about the level of detail in Batiz's journalistic reports about their crimes, and so they wanted to establish whether anyone within their organisation was leaking information to Batiz. And so, Chaparro was asked to spy on Cesar Batiz.
Chaparro, who has a history with the intelligence police, must have gotten hold of his old chums to lend a hand. When I asked Batiz about this he said that a satellite tracker was placed in his car. Men in motorcycles were commissioned to follow his every move. His work diary -where Batiz kept copious notes of his investigations, contacts, telephones, appointments, etc.- suddenly got "lost" in his own home. His email was hacked. In addition, his elderly mother got threatening phone calls from the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN). The SEBIN is the new DISIP, where Chaparro was a commander. Batiz himself was also called in, repeatedly, by SEBIN operatives, who demanded that he presented himself in their offices to be questioned about his sources.
Unlike Snowden, Batiz is not revealing secret official surveillance plans (but it's about time someone blew the whistle on how Venezuela spies on its own people). Instead, Batiz is publicising corruption in the billions of dollars, in a country with a government supposedly devoted to the poor. Batiz's rights have not been respected. His work has been sought to be discredited, not in the press as would happen in true democracies, but by a private security company working in cahoots with the country's intelligence services, while Derwick Associates used its contacts with high government officials to have the country's intelligence services act as its private security contractors. Imagine the front page coverage in America if a private security firm partnered with the FBI, without official sanction, to persecute Glenn Greenwald, hack his email, track his car, harrass his mother, and bring him in for questioning. Not for publishing the government's surveillance system, but for exposing theft and graft. That's the Venezuela that Snowden respects...
7 July 2013
What's the story about Roberto Pannunzi's Venezuelan ID?
 |
| Roberto Pannunzi (photo AP) |
@InformadorVeraz weighs in, asking whether Colombia's Ministry of Defence is claiming that people with fake IDs can register to vote in Venezuela's electoral roll:
Señores @mindefensa ¿estan diciendo que la gente puede registrar cedulas chimbas en el rep en Venezuela? http://t.co/iMNH8RpExx
— InformadorVeraz (@InformadorVeraz) July 7, 2013
4 July 2013
Open letter to Edward Snowden
Dear Edward,
it must be hard for you, to realise that beyond the chorus of celebrations from radical fringes of the political spectrum for what you've done, real-politik always trumps naive behaviour.
You probably don't not know this, but I happen to have come across some of the actors involved in your current existencial dilemma. In 2008, I was working as VP Operations for the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), an NGO founded by a Venezuelan, like myself. One of the first things I did at the time was to travel to Ecuador, twice, to El Inca prison. You must be thinking why on earth I did that, and I'll tell you: I went to visit Orellana Governor Guadalupe Llori, a remarkable indigenous woman, leader of a left-leaning political movement, and former supporter of Rafael Correa. Guadalupe was democratically elected, just like Correa. She had a mandate from her constituents, just like Correa. But once he got to power, and started doing the very same things he had been criticising previous governments about, such as sending the army to crush dissent, Guadalupe rebelled. And she did because the province in which she was elected Governor (Orellana) was at the centre of oil workers protests about appalling working conditions, lack of infrastructure, contamination, etc. After Correa's decision to send in the army, Guadalupe referred to him in a local TV station as a brute.
"Fair comment" you may think. But Correa, a man who comes from a dysfunctional family and has a huge chip on his shoulder, decided to accuse Guadalupe of being a "terrorist" and had her thrown in jail, for almost 10 months. In that jail I visited her, twice. I still have at home two dolls that she made while there and gave me for my children. I was the only representative of a human rights NGO, whether local or international, to have visited her in jail to raise awareness about the injustice of her case. Thanks to HRF's campaign Guadalupe was freed and cleared of all charges for lack of evidence. But she was forcibly removed from her democratically-elected office on trumped charges. This was only one of two women in the entire American continent at the time -the other being Sarah Palin- to hold such office. The episode, as you may imagine, was a huge embarrassment for Correa and his regime.
Then I was asked to help organize the first ever Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference produced by the HRF. I was there, in its first year, 2009. In 2010, while I was no longer employed by HRF, I did follow the proceedings, and heard Guadalupe give thanks for what we did to help her out. Curiously, that year, your handler Julian Assange, was one of the speakers invited to the Oslo Freedom Forum. This was before he had those issues in Sweden, and the Manning leaks. So let me tell you that Assange must have read, at the very least, about Guadalupe and what Correa had done to her in the conference prospectus. I guess you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Julian was hiding in Ecuador's Embassy in London.
Julian, I have been able to determine, is far from being this admirable advocate for transparency, rule of law, democracy, and freedom. His actions, since his decision of seeking asylum from Correa, speak volumes about his true nature. When I first heard about you I thought "wow, good thing that this guy alerted about that so a proper debate on the subject can be had." But then, like Julian before you, you showed up in Hong Kong, from there you flew to Russia, from where you said you wanted to go elsewhere, to Ecuador, which I've already talked about, Cuba, where I've also been visiting those prosecuted by the communist Castro dictators, and Venezuela, my country. Now let me tell you this Edward, none of your current handlers knows a tenth of what goes on in my country. That includes Julian. He may have, for expediency and survival reasons, entered into some sort of marriage of convenience with Rafael Correa's regime. While I am no expert in Ecuador I most certainly am in Venezuela.
In Venezuela, a journalist investigating a company that got power contracts from the State illegally gets visit from intelligence and security forces; his mother gets menacing calls; his car and house get bugged and he suffers all kinds of harassment. I'm not even talking about secrets of State Edward, like those you're revealing. No. A journalist simply doing his job and trying to keep those who grant public contracts honest. A judge, also doing her job and following the letter of the law to the t, gets sent to prison on the whims of the president. Ditto police officers. Let's say, for argument sake, that you are Venezuelan, or Ecuadorian, or Cuban, and you want to leak the stuff you got to the media in Venezuela, or Ecuador, or Cuba. You should first identify to which media, right? To maximise exposure? Well, let me tell you this, there is not one single media outlet of national reach in those countries that would, today, publish State secrets likes the one you have. Not one. If you happen to have stuff that exposes the opposition, or private companies, then yes, there are many places you could go. In fact, until very recently, there was this guy in Venezuela called Mario Silva, he had a prime time program in one of the State channels in which playing out illegally obtained phone recordings were daily occurrences. No one is prosecuted for that, in fact it is pretty much encouraged by the highest authorities. There's nowhere to got get redress for the courts are but an appendix of the regime. You are disgusted by what the government of your country does to spy your countrymen, what on earth do you think happens in Venezuela? Or in Cuba? Or in Russia? Or in China? Do you honestly think personal freedoms are more respected in my country? Do you honestly think you stand a better chance in a court of law in my country?
You are meant to be a former intelligence analist so you must be aware of these things. If you aren't, then the US intelligence apparatus is at an unsurmountable loss. You must have heard, learned or come across about such activities. It's common knowledge. It's been all over the media, aligned or not. From where do you think Cuba picked up its spying program? From PRISM? Or do I need to tell you about the Stasi? A Russian whistleblower was poisoned in a cafe in London not long ago, did you hear about him? That was Alexander Litvinenko. Did you hear about the guy who exposed tax corruption? That was Sergei Magnitsky. How about Cuba, have you heard something, anything in fact, about what happens to people locked in prisons located on the other side of the fence in Guantanamo?
I guess what I'm trying to get at Edward, from someone that has done some very minor leaking, is this: if you are moral enough to recognise when your government is doing wrong, and act upon it, be moral enough to recognise that your current partners/advisors are anything but an example to follow. If you are running away from a country where the government spies on its people, the last place you'd want to go should be Ecuador, or China, or Russia, or Cuba, or Venezuela. I mean, c'mon! Your public stance on this particular issue has the credibility of a campaigner for personal freedoms called Joseph Fritzl.
So I guess the best piece of advice I could give you is drop immediately Julian and his counsel. As the Times wrote yesterday, a man holed up in a cupboard for over a year in the Ecuadorian Embassy is hardly a legitimate advisor on how to avoid being trapped.
As per your alleged intentions of going to my country, or to Ecuador or Cuba, let me warn you: the moment you become a nuisance, or your presence is no longer politically expedient, the rulers of those countries won't hesitate for a second to dispose of you. There will be no media taking up your case, no human rights NGO exerting pressure for those regime allege sovereignty to wipe their arses with all international conventions. The jails in those countries are far, far worse from what your mind can even begin to picture. Once in one of those, you won't be able to claim anything about human rights, due process, etc., and your life will be absolutely worthless. You may think, after what happened to Manning, that going back to your country is out of the question. If you allow me to be crude in the extreme, I'd say Manning is alive, he didn't die, he wasn't killed. In all those other countries you may well become the next Sergei Magnitsky, or the next Franklin Brito.
Best,
Alek
it must be hard for you, to realise that beyond the chorus of celebrations from radical fringes of the political spectrum for what you've done, real-politik always trumps naive behaviour.
You probably don't not know this, but I happen to have come across some of the actors involved in your current existencial dilemma. In 2008, I was working as VP Operations for the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), an NGO founded by a Venezuelan, like myself. One of the first things I did at the time was to travel to Ecuador, twice, to El Inca prison. You must be thinking why on earth I did that, and I'll tell you: I went to visit Orellana Governor Guadalupe Llori, a remarkable indigenous woman, leader of a left-leaning political movement, and former supporter of Rafael Correa. Guadalupe was democratically elected, just like Correa. She had a mandate from her constituents, just like Correa. But once he got to power, and started doing the very same things he had been criticising previous governments about, such as sending the army to crush dissent, Guadalupe rebelled. And she did because the province in which she was elected Governor (Orellana) was at the centre of oil workers protests about appalling working conditions, lack of infrastructure, contamination, etc. After Correa's decision to send in the army, Guadalupe referred to him in a local TV station as a brute.
"Fair comment" you may think. But Correa, a man who comes from a dysfunctional family and has a huge chip on his shoulder, decided to accuse Guadalupe of being a "terrorist" and had her thrown in jail, for almost 10 months. In that jail I visited her, twice. I still have at home two dolls that she made while there and gave me for my children. I was the only representative of a human rights NGO, whether local or international, to have visited her in jail to raise awareness about the injustice of her case. Thanks to HRF's campaign Guadalupe was freed and cleared of all charges for lack of evidence. But she was forcibly removed from her democratically-elected office on trumped charges. This was only one of two women in the entire American continent at the time -the other being Sarah Palin- to hold such office. The episode, as you may imagine, was a huge embarrassment for Correa and his regime.
Then I was asked to help organize the first ever Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference produced by the HRF. I was there, in its first year, 2009. In 2010, while I was no longer employed by HRF, I did follow the proceedings, and heard Guadalupe give thanks for what we did to help her out. Curiously, that year, your handler Julian Assange, was one of the speakers invited to the Oslo Freedom Forum. This was before he had those issues in Sweden, and the Manning leaks. So let me tell you that Assange must have read, at the very least, about Guadalupe and what Correa had done to her in the conference prospectus. I guess you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Julian was hiding in Ecuador's Embassy in London.
Julian, I have been able to determine, is far from being this admirable advocate for transparency, rule of law, democracy, and freedom. His actions, since his decision of seeking asylum from Correa, speak volumes about his true nature. When I first heard about you I thought "wow, good thing that this guy alerted about that so a proper debate on the subject can be had." But then, like Julian before you, you showed up in Hong Kong, from there you flew to Russia, from where you said you wanted to go elsewhere, to Ecuador, which I've already talked about, Cuba, where I've also been visiting those prosecuted by the communist Castro dictators, and Venezuela, my country. Now let me tell you this Edward, none of your current handlers knows a tenth of what goes on in my country. That includes Julian. He may have, for expediency and survival reasons, entered into some sort of marriage of convenience with Rafael Correa's regime. While I am no expert in Ecuador I most certainly am in Venezuela.
In Venezuela, a journalist investigating a company that got power contracts from the State illegally gets visit from intelligence and security forces; his mother gets menacing calls; his car and house get bugged and he suffers all kinds of harassment. I'm not even talking about secrets of State Edward, like those you're revealing. No. A journalist simply doing his job and trying to keep those who grant public contracts honest. A judge, also doing her job and following the letter of the law to the t, gets sent to prison on the whims of the president. Ditto police officers. Let's say, for argument sake, that you are Venezuelan, or Ecuadorian, or Cuban, and you want to leak the stuff you got to the media in Venezuela, or Ecuador, or Cuba. You should first identify to which media, right? To maximise exposure? Well, let me tell you this, there is not one single media outlet of national reach in those countries that would, today, publish State secrets likes the one you have. Not one. If you happen to have stuff that exposes the opposition, or private companies, then yes, there are many places you could go. In fact, until very recently, there was this guy in Venezuela called Mario Silva, he had a prime time program in one of the State channels in which playing out illegally obtained phone recordings were daily occurrences. No one is prosecuted for that, in fact it is pretty much encouraged by the highest authorities. There's nowhere to got get redress for the courts are but an appendix of the regime. You are disgusted by what the government of your country does to spy your countrymen, what on earth do you think happens in Venezuela? Or in Cuba? Or in Russia? Or in China? Do you honestly think personal freedoms are more respected in my country? Do you honestly think you stand a better chance in a court of law in my country?
You are meant to be a former intelligence analist so you must be aware of these things. If you aren't, then the US intelligence apparatus is at an unsurmountable loss. You must have heard, learned or come across about such activities. It's common knowledge. It's been all over the media, aligned or not. From where do you think Cuba picked up its spying program? From PRISM? Or do I need to tell you about the Stasi? A Russian whistleblower was poisoned in a cafe in London not long ago, did you hear about him? That was Alexander Litvinenko. Did you hear about the guy who exposed tax corruption? That was Sergei Magnitsky. How about Cuba, have you heard something, anything in fact, about what happens to people locked in prisons located on the other side of the fence in Guantanamo?
I guess what I'm trying to get at Edward, from someone that has done some very minor leaking, is this: if you are moral enough to recognise when your government is doing wrong, and act upon it, be moral enough to recognise that your current partners/advisors are anything but an example to follow. If you are running away from a country where the government spies on its people, the last place you'd want to go should be Ecuador, or China, or Russia, or Cuba, or Venezuela. I mean, c'mon! Your public stance on this particular issue has the credibility of a campaigner for personal freedoms called Joseph Fritzl.
So I guess the best piece of advice I could give you is drop immediately Julian and his counsel. As the Times wrote yesterday, a man holed up in a cupboard for over a year in the Ecuadorian Embassy is hardly a legitimate advisor on how to avoid being trapped.
As per your alleged intentions of going to my country, or to Ecuador or Cuba, let me warn you: the moment you become a nuisance, or your presence is no longer politically expedient, the rulers of those countries won't hesitate for a second to dispose of you. There will be no media taking up your case, no human rights NGO exerting pressure for those regime allege sovereignty to wipe their arses with all international conventions. The jails in those countries are far, far worse from what your mind can even begin to picture. Once in one of those, you won't be able to claim anything about human rights, due process, etc., and your life will be absolutely worthless. You may think, after what happened to Manning, that going back to your country is out of the question. If you allow me to be crude in the extreme, I'd say Manning is alive, he didn't die, he wasn't killed. In all those other countries you may well become the next Sergei Magnitsky, or the next Franklin Brito.
Best,
Alek
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