Desperate Venezuelans Turn To Cow Blood Soup Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Source: NDTV

May 15 2020

By Reuters

SAN CRISTOBAL/CARACAS: Since Venezuela went into its coronavirus lockdown, dozens of needy people have been lining up at a slaughterhouse in the western town of San Cristobal to pick up the only protein they can find for free: cattle blood.

Mechanic Aleyair Romero, 20, goes twice a week. He lost his job at a local garage and says boxes of subsidized food from the government of President Nicolas Maduro arrive too slowly.

"I have to find food however I can," said Romero, holding a coffee thermos dripping with blood the slaughterhouse gives away.

Though cow's blood is a traditional ingredient for "pichon" soup in the Venezuelan Andes and neighboring Colombia, more people have been seeking it out since the COVID-19 crisis.

In a proudly carnivorous nation, few are happy about eating more blood instead of meat - a kilo of which costs about two times the monthly minimum wage.

Increased consumption of cattle blood is, like stripped mango trees, a striking symbol of hunger as Venezuela's economy, already suffering six years of hyperinflationary implosion, has been nearly shuttered in response to the pandemic.

Though numbers of reported deaths and cases from the virus appear modest, Venezuelans are suffering from the economic shutdown and delays in the state food distribution program known as CLAP, for years the most important source of food for many.

The situation is hitting the provinces hardest because distribution is tilted toward major cities including Caracas, according to nutrition-focused charity Citizenry in Action.

The government has for years given the capital priority access to services including water and power.

In Caracas, 26.5% of families receive CLAP boxes, compared with only 4% of families in areas such as "Los Llanos" (The Plains) region, Citizenry in Action says.

"It's not the virus that's going to kill them, it's hunger," said Edison Arciniegas, director of the group.

Even before COVID-19, the United Nations called Venezuela one of the world's 10 worst humanitarian crises in 2019, noting that 9.3 million of the 30 million population consume insufficient quantities of food.

Some 5 million people have migrated as a result, it says.

'SURVIVING ON BLOOD'

Maduro's leftist government blames the problems on U.S. sanctions meant to force him from power, and says international aid agencies exaggerate the extent of migration. The information ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

Official figures show Venezuela has 440 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths - though critics believe there are more.

Soup kitchens describe a big increase in use since the quarantine began in mid-March and delays in food box deliveries, which in many cases come every six to seven weeks rather than monthly as promised at the start of the programs in 2016.

The government sends boxes "whenever it wants," said Romero.

At a soup kitchen in the poor Caracas neighborhood of Carapita run by the Feeding Solidarity group, workers say they were accustomed to providing meals for 80 children but under quarantine are now also feeding some 350 adults.

Upon receiving a bowl of soup and a ham-and-cheese sandwich, some mothers remove part of the ham and cheese for their children to have for breakfast the following day. They, too, complain the state food boxes are slow and meager.

"It's not enough for us to get through this," said Ysimar Pernalete, 38, a mother-of-two, of the CLAP boxes.

"How can you tell a child 'I don't have anything to give you'? You give them rice without anything else and they cry."

The government in 2016 began distributing food directly to millions of Venezuelans in what authorities said would prevent merchants from overcharging for good.

Critics call it a social control mechanism that allows the government to limit dissidence and protest.

At the San Cristobal municipal slaughterhouse, thirty to forty people arrive every day to request cattle blood, according to one employee, who recalled that blood would be thrown away back in more prosperous times.

"We're going hungry," said Baudilio Chacon, 46, a construction worker left unemployed by the quarantine measures as he waited to collect blood at the slaughterhouse.

"We are four brothers and a 10-year-old boy, and we're all surviving on blood."

Iran Reportedly Sends Five Tankers to Venezuela Amid US Economic Blockade

Source: Sputnik

May 15 2020

By Tim Korso

Venezuela is suffering from an acute economic crisis that has been exacerbated by economic sanctions imposed against the country by the US in 2019, essentially crippling the nation's oil refineries among other things.

Five Iranian oil tankers are reportedly sailing towards Venezuela purportedly carrying fuel for the Latin American state, online media outlet Al-Masdar News reported citing maritime services' information. Three tankers, Fortune, Petunia, and Forest are currently crossing the Atlantic, while two more, Faxon and Clavel are crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

One monitoring service, Marine Traffic, however, indicates that only one of the ships, Forest, is heading towards South America without indicating the specific country, while the others are yet to announce their destination ports. It's also unclear what cargo are they carrying from the information provided by the maritime monitoring system.

Even if the tankers are heading towards Venezuela, they might face trouble because the US recently deployed three destroyers and a littoral combat ship, the USS Detroit, to the Caribbean Sea. The US Navy could potentially intercept the vessels if they receive such orders.

Both Venezuela and the US have of late been suffering due to the American sanctions, especially their oil industries. The Latin American state's refining capabilities have reportedly been crippled by the joint impact of sanctions and economic crisis, leading to fuel shortages.

US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams earlier claimed that Tehran is supplying Caracas with equipment needed to restart the country's refineries in exchange for gold from Venezuelan reserves. However, Iran slammed the claims as "baseless" and, in turn, condemned Washington's attempts to destroy the Venezuelan economy and to topple its president, Nicolas Maduro. Tehran suggested that the accusations were made only to serve as a pretext for new sanctions against both countries.

Washington has been actively pressing the Venezuelan president to step down using sanctions against the country's economy as leverage. Maduro, however, refused to leave his post, surviving a coup attempt reportedly organised with aid from the US and a kidnapping attempt planned by American private military company Silvercorp. The US, however, denied any connection to Silvercorp's actions, despite Maduro accusing President Donald Trump of orchestrating the attempted kidnapping.

FBI probes Mexican, European firms over Venezuela oil trading - sources

Source: Reuters

May 13 2020

MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is probing several Mexican and European companies allegedly involved in trading Venezuelan oil as it gathers information for a U.S. Treasury Department inquiry into possible sanctions busting, according to four people familiar with the matter.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams told reporters late last month the State and Treasury departments were investigating whether several firms were violating sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA since January 2019.

The sanctions are part of a campaign by Washington to strangle the revenues of President Nicolas Maduro, which has failed to break his grip on power. U.S. officials say privately that is a source of frustration for President Donald Trump, whose administration has tightened the implementation of sanctions in recent months.

Three of the people who provided information to the FBI - who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter - said the agency was investigating three Mexican companies: Libre Abordo, Schlager Business Group, and Grupo Jomadi Logistics & Cargo.

Reuters could find no record of Venezuelan oil purchases by those companies prior to sanctions.

The people also said the FBI was gathering information on two Europe-based oil trading companies that do have a track record of dealing in Venezuelan oil or selling fuel to PDVSA: Elemento Ltd and Swissoil Trading SA.

One of the sources familiar with the matter in Washington said any action against the Mexican and European companies could be postponed or cancelled if the firms halted trade with Venezuela. The three others said the probe by the Treasury and the State departments could potentially lead to action in the coming weeks.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which handles media enquiries for the FBI, declined to comment, as did a State Department spokesperson. The Treasury Department did not reply to a request for comment.

Emails and phone calls seeking comment from Elemento and Swissoil went unanswered, and a lawyer for Elemento did not respond to a request for comment. Emails sent to an address on Jomadi’s website bounced back.

Libre Abordo and its affiliate Schlager said in a statement to Reuters, citing legal experts they hired, that two contracts they signed in June 2019 with Venezuela’s Corporation for Foreign Trade (Corpovex) to provide food and water trucks in exchange for Venezuelan crude - known as an oil-for-food agreement - were permitted under the sanctions as long as no cash payment reached Maduro’s government.

“Neither Libre Abordo nor shipping companies hired to move PDVSA’s hydrocarbons are the subject of sanctions,” read the statement.

The firms declined to identify the legal experts but provided Reuters with their interpretation of Venezuela sanctions, which the companies said they sent to several shipping firms and other partners.

The undated memorandum said the oil-for-food deal did not contravene U.S. measures because Corpovex was not specifically named on the Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned people and entities, unlike PDVSA, and because there were exceptions under the sanctions for humanitarian goods.

Neither Corpovex, PDVSA nor Venezuela’s trade ministry responded to requests for comment.

VENEZUELA RELIANT ON SWAP DEALS

The two small Mexican companies have emerged as the largest middlemen for Venezuelan oil in recent months, according to internal PDVSA export documents, reviewed by Reuters.

OPEC member Venezuela has come to rely on trading oil and gold to pay for essential imports using complicated swap agreements because Washington’s sanctions bar Maduro’s government from using the U.S. financial system.

The PDVSA export documents show that Libre Abordo and Schlager have quickly ramped up trading of Venezuelan oil since receiving a first cargo in December, after a second wave of U.S. sanctions in August 2019 barred non-U.S. oil companies from doing business with PDVSA.

These secondary sanctions blocked the U.S. property of anyone worldwide “materially assisting” Venezuela’s government, including PDVSA and other governmental bodies - though it did not specifically name Corpovex. While the measures permitted shipments of food, clothing and medicines, none of the Venezuela-related executive orders issued by Trump specifically allowed oil-for-food agreements.

Whether that ambiguity potentially has created a loophole for companies is a matter of disagreement, some experts said.

Richard Nephew, a senior researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and a former State Department official dealing with sanctions policy toward Iran, said that while food deals were permitted under sanctions there was no special dispensation for them to be paid for in oil and the involvement of PDVSA could still prompt Treasury to take action.

However, Peter Harrell, an expert on sanctions at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said that in oil-for-food swaps the companies ultimately supplying the food could be protected from sanctions provided they had no role in physically receiving, transporting or selling the oil.

Harrell added that some U.S. policymakers might be reluctant to impose sanctions on companies involved in a deal to supply basic goods to a nation suffering a humanitarian crisis.

“Policymakers will be concerned that sanctioning an oil for food barter would play into a...narrative that U.S. sanctions are causing humanitarian challenges in Venezuela,” Harrell said.

DECISIONS ON SANCTIONS

While the FBI’s principal focus is on domestic intelligence and security, its agents also carry out overseas investigations to aid decisions on sanctions by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which often also seeks input from the State and Commerce departments, U.S. embassies and the intelligence community.

Libre Abordo and Schlager’s oil-for-food deals with Venezuela obliged them to deliver 1,000 water trucks and 210,000 tonnes of corn to the country, the companies said. While some of the trucks have been delivered, the firms said they have not so far supplied any of the food as low oil prices have affected the original delivery schedule.

In exchange, they have so far received more than 26 million barrels of Venezuelan oil for resale, according to PDVSA’s export documents.

In just four months, Libre Abordo and Schlager increased their intake of PDVSA’s oil from less than 3% to 39% of the Venezuelan company’s total exports, which averaged 850,000 barrels per day in April.

The agreements threw a lifeline to Maduro, whose administration is struggling to afford imports of everything from food to medicine and industrial equipment.

Reporting by Marianna Parraga, Adriana Barrera and Ana Isabel Martinez in Mexico City, and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Additional reporting by Sarah Lynch, Daphne Psaledakis, Gary McWilliams and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Daniel Wallis.

How an ex-Green Beret organized a 'private coup' funded by US billionaires to remove Venezuela's Maduro

A secret military operation led by an ex-Green Beret and funded by US billionaires to ouster Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros has failed while still in the planning stages

Source: Daily Mail

May 2 2020

By Ralph Ordega

• A secret military operation to overthrow Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros has fallen apart

• The operation failed due to skimpy planning, feuding among opposition politicians and a poorly trained force

• The ringleader, retired Venezuelan General Cliver Alcalá, is now jailed in the US on narcotics charges

• Meanwhile, authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of Alcalá's American adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau

A secret military operation to overthrow Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro Moros was simple, but perilous.

Some 300 heavily armed volunteers would sneak into Venezuela from the northern tip of South America. Along the way, they would raid military bases in the socialist country and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in President Nicolás Maduro's arrest.

What could go wrong? As it turns out, pretty much everything.

The ringleader of the plot is now jailed in the US on narcotics charges. Authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of his muscular American adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau.

And dozens of desperate combatants who flocked to secret training camps in Colombia said they have been left to fend for themselves amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After the operation fell apart, authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of a muscular American adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau (center)

The failed attempt to start an uprising collapsed under the collective weight of skimpy planning, feuding among opposition politicians and a poorly trained force that stood little chance of beating the Venezuelan military.

'You're not going to take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men,' said Ephraim Mattos, a former US Navy SEAL who trained some of the would-be combatants in tactical medicine.

This bizarre, untold story of a call to arms that crashed before it launched is drawn from interviews with more than 30 Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters who were directly involved in or familiar with its planning. Most spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.

When hints of the conspiracy surfaced last month, the Maduro-controlled state media portrayed it as an invasion ginned up by the CIA, like the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco of 1961. An Associated Press investigation found no evidence of US government involvement in the plot. Nevertheless, interviews revealed that leaders of Venezuela's US-backed opposition knew of the covert force, even if they dismissed its prospects.

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019 barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognized by the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader.

Contrary to US expectations at the time, key Maduro aides never joined with the opposition and the government quickly quashed the uprising.

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019 barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement, Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader (pictured) recognized by the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader Maduro announces Venezuela is breaking relations with America.

A few weeks later, some soldiers and politicians involved in the failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia. The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles.

For this occasion, conference rooms were reserved for what one participant described as the 'Star Wars summit of anti-Maduro goofballs' — military deserters accused of drug trafficking, shady financiers and former Maduro officials seeking redemption.

Among those angling in the open lobby was Goudreau, an American citizen and three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special forces, according to five people who met with the former soldier.

Soldiers and politicians involved in a failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia (pictured). The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles.

Goudreau, a three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special forces, was among those who showed up at the hotel.

Those he interacted with in the US and Colombia described him in interviews alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head.

Two former special forces colleagues said Goudreau was always at the top of his class: a cell leader with a superb intellect for handling sources, an amazing shot and a devoted mixed martial arts fighter who still cut his hair high and tight.

At the end of an otherwise distinguished military career, the Canadian-born Goudreau was investigated in 2013 for allegedly defrauding the Army of $62,000 in housing stipends.

Those Goudreauy interacted with in the US and Colombia described him alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head. He is pictured posing with a World War II veteran in an image from Instagram.

Goudreau said the investigation was closed with no charges.

After retiring in 2016, he worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. In 2018, he set up Silvercorp USA, a private security firm, near his home on Florida's Space Coast to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers.

The company's website features photos and videos of Goudreau firing machine guns in battle, running shirtless up a pyramid, flying on a private jet and sporting a military backpack with a rolled-up American flag.

Silvercorp's website touts operations in more than 50 countries, with an advisory team made up of former diplomats, experienced military strategists and heads of multinational corporations -- none of them named. It claims to have 'led international security teams' for the president of the United States.

After retiring in 2016, Goudreau worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. In 2018, he set up Silvercorp USA (pictured), a private security firm, near his home in Florida to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers.

An image of Goudreau leading a training exercise for his company, Silvercorp USA.

Goudreau, 43, declined to be interviewed.

In a written statement, he said that 'Silvercorp cannot disclose the identities of its network of sources, assets and advisors due to the nature of our work' and, more generally, 'would never confirm nor deny any activities in any operational realm. No inference should be drawn from this response.'

'Controling chaos'

Goudreau's focus on Venezuela started in February 2019, when he worked security at a concert in support of Guaidó organized by British billionaire Richard Branson on the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

'Controlling chaos on the Venezuela border where a dictator looks on with apprehension,' he wrote in a photo of himself on the concert stage posted to his Instagram account.

Goudreau's focus on Venezuela began in February 2019, when he worked security at a concert in support of Guaidó. Goudreau is seen working the concert in a picture posted on Instagram.

'Controlling chaos on the Venezuela border where a dictator looks on with apprehension,' wrote Goudreau in an Instagram post of the concert (pictured), dubbed 'Venezuelan Aid Live'.

The concert in support of Guaidó was organized by British billionaire Richard Branson on the Venezuelan-Colombian border. Branson is pictured at the Feb. 22, 2019 event.

'He was always chasing the golden BB,' said Drew White, a former business partner at Silvercorp, using military slang for a one-in-a-million shot. White said he broke with his former special forces comrade last fall when Goudreau asked for help raising money to fund his regime change initiative.

'As supportive as you want to be as a friend, his head wasn't in the world of reality,' said White. 'Nothing he said lined up.'

According to White, Goudreau came back from the concert looking to capitalize on the Trump administration's growing interest in toppling Maduro.

He had been introduced to Keith Schiller, President Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard, through someone who worked in private security. Schiller attended a March 2019 event at the University Club in Washington for potential donors with activist Lester Toledo, then Guaidó's coordinator for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Add caGoudreau came back from the concert looking to capitalize on the Trump administration's growing interest in toppling Maduro. Through a friend who works in private security, Goudreau was introduced to Keith Schiller (left), President Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard.ption

Schiller attended a March 2019 event at the University Club in Washington D.C. for potential donors with activist Lester Toledo (center), then Guaidó's coordinator for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Last May, Goudreau accompanied Schiller to a meeting in Miami with representatives of Guaidó. There was a lively discussion with Schiller about the need to beef up security for Guaidó and his growing team of advisers inside Venezuela and across the world, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Schiller thought Goudreau was naive and in over his head. He cut off all contact following the meeting, said a person close to the former White House official.

In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau to a rebellious former Venezuelan military officer the American would come to trust above all others — Cliver Alcalá, ringleader of the Venezuelan military deserters.

Alcalá, a retired major general in Venezuela's army, seemed an unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland. In 2011, he was sanctioned by the US for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in Colombia with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine. And last month, Alcalá was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro as one of the architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy that allegedly sent 250 metric tons of cocaine every year to the US.

Alcalá is now in federal custody in New York awaiting trial. But before his surrender in Colombia, where he had been living since 2018, he had emerged as a forceful opponent of Maduro, not shy about urging military force.

In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau to a rebellious former Venezuelan military officer the American would come to trust above all others — Cliver Alcalá (pictured), ringleader of the Venezuelan military deserters. 

Alcalá, a retired major general in Venezuela's army, seemed an unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland. In 2011, he was sanctioned by the US for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in Colombia with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine.

Alcalá was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro as one of the architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy that allegedly sent 250 metric tons of cocaine every year to the US. Alcalá is now in federal custody in New York awaiting trial. Pictured is Alcalá's wanted poster.

Over two days of meetings with Goudreau and Toledo at the JW Marriott, Alcalá explained how he had selected 300 combatants from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers who abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia in the early days of Guaidó's uprising, said three people who participated in the meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.

Alcalá said several dozen men were already living in three camps he maintained in and around the desert-like La Guajira peninsula that Colombia shares with Venezuela, the three said. Among the combatants in the camps was an exiled national guardsman accused of participating in a 2018 drone attack on Maduro.

Alcalá selected 300 combatants from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers who abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia in the early days of Guaidó's uprising. Alcalá said several dozen men in camps were already living on La Guajira peninsula Venezuela (pictured)

Goudreau told Alcalá his company could prepare the men for battle, according to the three sources. The two sides discussed weapons and equipment for the volunteer army, with Goudreau estimating a budget of around $1.5 million for a rapid strike operation.

Goudreau told participants at the meeting that he had high-level contacts in the Trump administration who could assist the effort, although he offered few details, the three people said. Over time, many of the people involved in the plan to overthrow Maduro would come to doubt his word.

From the outset, the audacious plan split an opposition coalition already sharply divided by egos and strategy. There were concerns that Alcalá, with a murky past and ties to the regime through a brother who was Maduro's ambassador to Iran, couldn't be trusted. Others worried about going behind the backs of their Colombian allies and the US government.

But Goudreau didn't share the concerns about Alcalá, according to two people close to the former American soldier. Over time, he would come to share Alcalá's mistrust of the opposition, whose talk of restoring democracy was belied by what he saw as festering corruption and closed-door deal making with the regime, they said.

More importantly to Goudreau, Alcalá retained influence in the armed forces that Maduro's opponents, mostly civilian elites, lacked. He also knew the terrain, having served as the top commander along the border.

'We needed someone who knew the monster from the inside,' recalled one exiled former officer who joined the plot.

Guaidó's envoys, including Toledo, ended contact with Goudreau after the Bogota meeting because they believed it was a suicide mission, according to three people close to the opposition leader.

Undeterred, Goudreau returned to Colombia with four associates, all of them US combat veterans, and began working directly with Alcalá.

Alcalá and Goudreau revealed little about their military plans when they toured the camps.

Some of the would-be combatants were told by the two men that the rag-tag army would cross the border in a heavily armed convoy and sweep into Caracas within 96 hours, according to multiple soldiers at the camps. Goudreau told the volunteers that — once challenged in battle — Maduro's food-deprived, demoralized military would collapse like dominoes, several of the soldiers said.

No chance to succeed

Many saw the plan as foolhardy and there appears to have been no serious attempt to seek US military support.

'There was no chance they were going to succeed without direct US military intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos, the former Navy SEAL who spent two weeks in September training the volunteers in basic tactical medicine on behalf of his non-profit, Stronghold Rescue & Relief, which works in combat zones.

'There was no chance they were going to succeed without direct US military intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos, a former Navy SEAL (pictured) who spent two weeks in September training Goudreau's volunteers in basic tactical medicine.

Mattos visited the camps after hearing about them from a friend working in Colombia. He said he never met Goudreau.

Mattos said he was surprised by the barren conditions. There was no running water and men were sleeping on the floors, skipping meals and training with sawed-off broomsticks in place of assault rifles. Five Belgian shepherds trained to sniff out explosives were as poorly fed as their handlers and had to be given away.

Mattos said he grew wary as the men recalled how Goudreau had boasted to them of having protected Trump and told them he was readying a shipment of weapons and arranging aerial support for an eventual assault of Maduro's compound.

The volunteers also shared with Mattos a three-page document listing supplies needed for a three-week operation, which he provided to AP. Items included 320 M4 assault rifles, an anti-tank rocket launcher, Zodiac boats, $1 million in cash and state-of-the-art night vision goggles. The document's metadata indicates it was created by Goudreau on June 16.

'Unfortunately, there's a lot of cowboys in this business who try to peddle their military credentials into a big pay day,' said Mattos.

Mattos (pictured) visited the camps after hearing about them from a friend working in Colombia. He said he never met Goudreau.

AP found no indication US officials sponsored Goudreau's actions nor that Trump has authorized covert operations against Maduro, something that requires congressional notification.

But Colombian authorities were aware of his movements, as were prominent opposition politicians in Venezuela and exiles in Bogota, some of whom shared their findings with US officials, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

True to his reputation as a self-absorbed loose cannon, Alcalá openly touted his plans for an incursion in a June meeting with Colombia's National Intelligence Directorate and appealed for their support, said a former Colombian official familiar with the conversation. Alcalá also boasted about his relationship with Goudreau, describing him as a former CIA agent.

When the Colombians checked with their CIA counterparts in Bogota, they were told that the former Green Beret was never an agent. Alcalá was then told by his hosts to stop talking about an invasion or face expulsion, the former Colombian official said.

It's unclear where Alcalá and Goudreau got their backing, and whatever money was collected for the initiative appears to have been meager. One person who allegedly promised support was Roen Kraft, an eccentric descendant of the cheese-making family who — along with former Trump bodyguard Schiller — was among those meeting with opposition envoys in Miami and Washington.

It's unclear where Alcalá and Goudreau (pictured) got their backing, and whatever money was collected for the initiative appears to have been meager.

At some point, Kraft started raising money among his own circle of fellow trust-fund friends for what he described as a 'private coup' to be carried out by Silvercorp, according to two businessmen who he asked for money.

Kraft allegedly lured prospective donors with the promise of preferential access to negotiate deals in the energy and mining sectors with an eventual Guaidó government, said one of the businessmen. He provided AP a two-page, unsigned draft memorandum for a six-figure commitment he said was sent by Kraft in October in which he represents himself as the 'prime contractor' of Venezuela.

But it was never clear if Kraft really had the inside track with the Venezuelans.

In a phone interview with AP, Kraft acknowledged meeting with Goudreau three times last year. But he said the two never did any business together and only discussed the delivery of humanitarian aid for Venezuela. He said Goudreau broke off all communications with him on Oct. 14, when it seemed he was intent on a military action.

'I never gave him any money,' said Kraft.

'We knew everything'

Back in Colombia, more recruits were arriving to the three camps — even if the promised money didn't. Goudreau tried to bring a semblance of order. Uniforms were provided, daily exercise routines intensified and Silvercorp instructed the would-be warriors in close quarter combat.

Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,' said Hernán Alemán, a lawmaker from western Zulia state and one of a few politicians to openly embrace the clandestine mission.

Alemán said in an interview that neither the US nor the Colombian governments were involved in the plot to overthrow Maduro. He claims he tried to speak several times to Guaidó about the plan but said the opposition leader showed little interest.

Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,' said Hernán Alemán (pictured), a lawmaker from western Zulia state and one of a few politicians to openly embrace the clandestine mission.

'Lots of people knew about it, but they didn't support us,' he said. 'They were too afraid.'

The plot quickly crumbled in early March when one of the volunteer combatants was arrested after sneaking across the border into Venezuela from Colombia.

Shortly after, Colombian police stopped a truck transporting a cache of brand new weapons and tactical equipment worth around $150,000, including spotting scopes, night vision goggles, two-way radios and 26 American-made assault rifles with the serial numbers rubbed off. Fifteen brown-colored helmets were manufactured by High-End Defense Solutions, a Miami-based military equipment vendor owned by a Venezuelan immigrant family.

High-End Defense Solutions is the same company that Goudreau visited in November and December, allegedly to source weapons, according to two former Venezuelan soldiers who claim to have helped the American select the gear but later had a bitter falling out with Goudreau amid accusations that they were moles for Maduro.

Company owner Mark Von Reitzenstein did not respond to repeated email and phone requests seeking comment.

Alcalá claimed ownership of the weapons shortly before surrendering to face the US drug charges, saying they belonged to the 'Venezuelan people.' He also lashed out against Guaidó, accusing him of betraying a contract signed between his 'American advisers' and J.J. Rendon, a political strategist in Miami appointed by Guaidó to help force Maduro from power.

'We had everything ready,' lamented Alcalá in a video published on social media. 'But circumstances that have plagued us throughout this fight against the regime generated leaks from the very heart of the opposition, the part that wants to coexist with Maduro.'

Through a spokesman, Guaidó stood by comments made to Colombian media that he never signed any contract of the kind described by Alcalá, who he said he doesn't know. Rendon said his work for Guaidó is confidential and he would be required to deny any contract, whether or not it exists.

Meanwhile, Alcalá has offered no evidence and the alleged contract has yet to emerge, though AP repeatedly asked Goudreau for a copy.

In the aftermath of Alcalá's arrest, the would-be insurrection appears to have disbanded. As the coronavirus spreads, several of the remaining combatants have fled the camps and fanned out across Colombia, reconnecting with loved ones and figuring out their next steps. Most are broke, facing investigation by Colombian police and frustrated with Goudreau, who they blame for leading them astray.

Meanwhile, the socialist leadership in Caracas couldn't help but gloat.

Diosdado Cabello, the No. 2 most powerful person in the country and eminence grise of Venezuela's vast intelligence network, insisted that the government had infiltrated the plot for months.

'We knew everything,' said Cabello. 'Some of their meetings we had to pay for. That's how infiltrated they were.'

Diosdado Cabello, the No. 2 most powerful person in the country and eminence grise of Venezuela's vast intelligence network, insisted that the government had infiltrated the plot for months. 'We knew everything,' said Cabello.

Venezuelan Leader Maduro Is Charged in the U.S. With Drug Trafficking

Source: NYT

March 26 2020

By Katie Benner, William K. Rashbaum and Benjamin Weiser

WASHINGTON — President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was indicted in the United States on Thursday in a narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking conspiracy in which prosecutors said he led a violent drug cartel even as he amassed power.

The indictment of a putative head of state was highly unusual and served as an escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to pressure Mr. Maduro to leave office after his widely disputed re-election in 2018. Mr. Maduro has led Venezuela’s economy into shambles and prompted an exodus of millions of people into neighboring countries.

Attorney General William P. Barr announced the charges on Thursday at a news briefing along with the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the top federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Miami.

Mr. Maduro condemned the charges, accusing the United States and its ally Colombia on Twitter of giving “the order to fill Venezuela with violence.” He declared that he would not be defeated.

The United States no longer recognizes Mr. Maduro as Venezuela’s president. Along with most of Venezuela’s neighbors, the Trump administration has recognized the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, as president since he declared himself the country’s leader in January 2019. But Mr. Guaidó was unable to wrest power from Mr. Maduro, leaving Venezuela with two men claiming to be president.

In addition to Mr. Maduro, more than a dozen others were charged, including Venezuelan government and intelligence officials and members of the largest rebel group in Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, known as FARC, which has long drawn its financing from the cocaine trade.

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The chief justice of Venezuela was also charged with money laundering and the country’s minister of defense with drug trafficking, Mr. Barr said. The charges were contained in four separate indictments, two filed in New York and one each in Miami and Washington, Mr. Barr said.

The State Department is offering rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to the capture or conviction of Mr. Maduro, who remains in Venezuela, said Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney in Manhattan.

One of the indictments unsealed in federal court in Manhattan included four counts, accusing the defendants of possessing machine guns and conspiring to possess machine guns in addition to the narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking conspiracy charges.

The charges come a month after President Trump, in his state of the union address, called the Venezuelan head of state “an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people,” and vowed that “Maduro’s grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken.”

Mr. Maduro helped run and ultimately led a drug trafficking organization called Cartel de Los Soles as he gained power in Venezuela, according to court papers. Under his and others’ leadership, the cartel sought to enrich its members, enhance their power and to “‘flood’ the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug’s harmful and addictive effects on users in this country,” an indictment said.

The cartel, under the leadership of Mr. Maduro and others, “prioritized using cocaine as a weapon against America and importing as much cocaine as possible into the United States,” the indictment charged.

Mr. Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of cocaine produced by the FARC, directed his cartel to provide military-grade weapons to the group and coordinated foreign affairs with Honduras and other countries to “facilitate large-scale drug trafficking,” according to the indictment.

Mr. Maduro came to power in 2013 following the death of his predecessor Hugo Chávez. He vowed to continue Mr. Chávez’s socialist-inspired revolution, which redirected the country’s vast oil revenues toward the poor with government-sponsored housing, education and health programs.

Instead, the country was hit by the largest economic collapse in its history, a result of falling oil prices and years of economic mismanagement by the left-wing government. The country’s hospital system collapsed, triggering the exodus of millions of Venezuelans.

Many of those who remained began street protests against Mr. Maduro, who tamped them down with an iron fist. Mr. Maduro’s increasing authoritarianism has prompted critics to label him a dictator.

While the United States has imposed sanctions on many of Mr. Maduro’s allies in the past, it had avoided filing drug charges against some of them because they would rule out the possibility that Washington could work with them to negotiate Mr. Maduro’s exit, said Geoff Ramsey, the Venezuela director at the Washington Office on Latin America.

“The U.S. government has been willing to cut deals with anyone sanctioned for human rights abuses or corruption,” he said. “But not if they’re implicated in drugs.”

Noting that the indictments represent a shift in American policy, Mr. Ramsey said the Trump administration likely ended its chance to broker Mr. Maduro’s exit through his top allies and made a transition to a new government less likely.

“There’s now a better chance these figures will further entrench themselves than seek any kind of deal,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Any hope of a soft landing has been torpedoed.”

The indictments made clear that the Trump administration was going to try to resolve Venezuela’s problems without Mr. Maduro, Mr. Ramsey said.

For years, watchdog groups have accused Mr. Maduro’s close aides of working with drug lords to line their pockets and prop up the crumbling state. As the Venezuelan oil industry has collapsed, Mr. Maduro’s critics have said that the drug trade is playing an increasingly important role in keeping him in power.

Last year, Mr. Maduro’s former vice president, Tareck El Aissami, was indicted in federal court in Manhattan, accused of using his position of power to engage in international drug trafficking. He had been sanctioned by the United States following similar accusations two years before.

The Treasury Department has also accused Diosdado Cabello, the former president of the National Assembly and one of Mr. Maduro’s closest allies, of narcotics trafficking “and other corrupt activities.”

And two of Mr. Maduro’s nephews are serving prison sentences in the United States following convictions on drug charges. In that case, prosecutors said the nephews — sometimes called the “narcosobrinos” in Venezuela — attempted to bring in $20 million in drug money to assist their family in staying in power.

Can Venezuela Be Saved

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/magazine/can-venezuela-be-saved.html

Venezuela To Exit World Bank Investment Dispute Tribunal - Oil Min

Πηγή: WSJ
Jan 15 2012

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela plans to withdraw from the World Bank tribunal for investment disputes where it faces billions of dollars in claims including cases filed by U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhillips (COP), Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Sunday.

After years of threatening to exit the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, the government of President Hugo Chavez has been hinting heavily in recent months that the move is imminent amid signs that the Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips cases are drawing closer to decisions. ...

Iran's Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Chavez taunt US over 'big atomic bomb'

Πηγή: Independent
By Barney Henderson
Jan 10 2012

IRAN’S President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez joked about having "a big atomic bomb" and mocked US disapproval during a meeting between the two allies in Caracas.

Despite their geographical distance, the two countries have forged increasingly close ties, a lot of which is down to their shared anti-Americanism, although concrete projects have often lagged behind the rhetoric.

"One of the targets that Yankee imperialism has in its sights is Iran, which is why we are showing our solidarity," Chavez said during a joint press conference. "That hill will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out," he said of a hill next to his Miraflores Palace.

"When we meet, the devils go crazy," he said, mocking US warnings that Latin American nations should not help the Islamic Republic.

Ahmadinejad concurred: "Despite those arrogant people who do not wish us to be together, we will unite forever," he said.

The two men hugged, beamed, held hands and showered each other with praise. "President Chavez is the champion in the war on imperialism," Ahmadinejad said.

But the two countries signed only vague co-operation accords and Chavez gave few signals that Venezuela would seek to undercut toughened sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme by providing fuel or cash.

Meanwhile, the Iranian envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that Western expressions of alarm over uranium enrichment begun at a new underground plant in Iran are "politically motivated,"

"These reactions are exaggerated and politically motivated and have been made over previous years," Ali Asghar Soltanieh was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

He was commenting on Western reaction to the International Atomic Energy Agency's confirmation on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium to up to 20 per cent level in its new Fordo plant – a fortified bunker sunk into a mountain southwest of Tehran.

The United States said the activity was "a further escalation of their (the Iranians') ongoing violations with regard to their nuclear obligations," while Britain called it "provocative" and France said it was a "particularly grave violation by Iran of international law."

Belarus, China to join Venezuelan oil deposit project

Belarus and China are to take part in the development of an oil field in Venezuela

Πηγή: rianovosti
By Boris Babanov
Oct 5 2011


Belarus and China are to take part in the development of an oil field in Venezuela, Belarusian state television said on Wednesday.

The project was discussed during a visit by a delegation of Belarusian officials to the Latin American state late last week, the report said.

"We have received approval to work in a large oil-rich region together with Venezuela and China and extract hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day," Belarusian presidential aide Viktor Sheiman was quoted as saying.

In line with the agreement, the Belarusian-Venezuelan joint oil production company Petrolera BeloVenezolana will develop two more oil deposits in Venezuela, he said, adding that oil production will "increase many times" as a result.

Belarus is currently involved in oil production at seven oil and six gas deposits in the Latin American country. By 2011, the extraction of oil is expected to reach 1.2 million tones, while gas extraction is planned at 1 billion cubic meters.