Humberto Calderon Berti (left), former deputy Guaido (center) and Leopoldo Lopez (right). Photo courtesy of Maduradas.com.
Humberto Calderón Berti, an oil expert who acted as an “ambassador” of the pseudo-government of former deputy Guaidó in Colombia, accused the far-right politician Leopoldo López of being “the main person responsible for what happened to Monómeros,” as he imposed the practice of distributing appointments based on political affinities and not on technical skills.
“Unfortunately that was done contrary to what should have been done,” said Calderón Berti in an interview with journalist César Miguel Rondón this Thursday, September 30. “It began to be politicized, and the political leaders considered that as a kind of piñata. It seemed absolutely inadvisable to me.”
Calderón Berti, who held the presidency of the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) during the 1980s, indicated that he was consulted by representatives of the “interim office” about the most suitable way to manage the Venezuelan company, but his recommendations apparently were ignored.
Similarly, the politician affirmed that instead of appointing—all illegally—professionals with the appropriate qualifications, the hiring of “people whose credentials were being members of political parties” was privileged, and after offering this description he singled out Leopoldo López:
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“You don’t have to turn it around too much,” Calderón Berti said directly. “The main person responsible for what has happened in Monómeros is named Leopoldo López, who is politicized excessively, with striking sectarianism. He politicizes everything he puts his hand to, and he is the one who is largely responsible for everything that is happening.”
In addition, Calderón Berti asserted that this situation is repeated in other Venezuelan state companies abroad appropriated by Guaidó’s agents, such as CITGO in the United States, today about to be auctioned off in US courts.
Calderón Berti admitted that when he arrived in Cúcuta in January 2019, news reached his ears about the malicious handling of the supposed humanitarian aid that would be delivered to Venezuela, a fact that he felt responsible for reporting to the Colombian authorities and then to the media, once he was stripped of his pseudo-diplomatic post in favor of Tomás Guanipa.
Humberto Calderon Aberto, Former fake Guaido’s ambassador to Colombia: Leopoldo Lopez responsible for Monomeros bankruptcy. Corruption blows Guaido’s gang and G4. https://t.co/NqyqCRIqtI
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) October 1, 2021
“The same people who were there in Monómeros at the end are people linked to what was happening in Cúcuta, which I denounced in due time,” he said.
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Instead of “allying themselves” with him, this group of corrupt people—in his own words, people close to Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo López—claiming to act “in defense of the interests of the Venezuelan population… declared a war led by Leopoldo López.”
The current candidate for the governorship of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, without holding any position, led a meeting in which some of the members of the Energy and Mines Commission of Parliament—in contempt at that time—participated. Members of the pseudo-board of directors “appointed” by Guaidó would also be involved in the plunder of Monómeros.
At that meeting, Calderón Berti explained, the pseudo-officials who controlled Monómeros complained that their friends had not been awarded contracts. “In protest I stopped, and left,” he said.
In his opinion, the “politicization” imposed by López was a precursor to the debacle that Monómeros is experiencing today. Following an intervention by the Superintendency of Corporations of Colombia, the company now faces a clear risk of being expropriated or auctioned off, due to the interest that political and commercial entities have shown in the company, which supplies about 50% of the fertilizers used in Colombia.
Calderón Berti assured that his case was not the only one, and that “what happens is that nobody dares to say anything… There are many who have resigned for the same reasons that I denounced in Colombia, and no one has dared to say so, due to improper and sectarian interference by Leopoldo López in the conduct of the interim government.”
Featured image: Humberto Calderón Berti (left), former deputy Guaido (center) and Leopoldo López (right). Photo courtesy of Maduradas.com.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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