Venezuelan far-right politicians Leopoldo López (left) and Julio Borges (right), allegedly implicated in the PDVSA-Crypto corruption plot. File photo.
By Misión Verdad – May 2, 2024
According to revelations made by the Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab, the PDVSA-Crypto corruption scheme also had significant political dimensions, indicated by the links between the businessman being prosecuted by the justice system, Samark López, and leaders of the Venezuelan extreme-right opposition.
Former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, leader of the PDVSA-Crypto conspiracy, was an ally of ultra right-wing politicians such as Leopoldo López, Carlos Ocariz, and Julio Borges, according to audio recordings of conversations between these leaders and Samark López. This was publicly revealed on Monday, April 29, by Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who at a press conference showed three videos in which Samark López is heard interacting with the aforementioned politicians. The businessman was the “financial operator” of El Aissami, and involved in acts of corruption in the state-owned oil company PDVSA.
#VEA nuestra rueda de prensa que devela la alta conspiración de la trama de corrupción PDVSA/Cripto….https://t.co/9mBPpJOZjz
— Tarek William Saab (@TarekWiliamSaab) April 30, 2024
The attorney general expressed that Samark López was also El Aissami’s liaison with US officials such as James Story, who was in charge of the US Foreign Office for Venezuela in Bogotá, Colombia.
Motive of these relations
Samark López had been prosecuted in the United States, first for drug trafficking and then for “violating sanctions” against Venezuela.
At first, Samark López was subject to sanctions by the US Treasury Department and his assets were ordered to be confiscated in 2020.
In late August 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the judgment issued by US Magistrate Judge Robert N. Scola in 2020, which called for the seizure of the Venezuelan businessman’s assets.
López had been indicted in New York court for allegedly violating sanctions that froze his considerable wealth in the United States, including yachts, airplanes, luxury real estate in Miami, and a Citibank account that has $269 million credited to it.
The businessman was held under suspicion by Venezuelan authorities for serving as a frontman for Tareck El Aissami. But the unexpected way in which López was cleared of the charges in the United States led to the presumption that this plot could be more complex. Consequently, Venezuelan authorities, including President Nicolás Maduro himself, decided to investigate the matter thoroughly.
The result has indicated that Samark López and Tareck El Aissami have been under constant pressure by and in negotiation with the government of the United States during the last few years, which resulted in their collaboration with the US government in order to carry out actions of economic and public security destabilization in Venezuela.
López and El Aissami bargained with Washington to not touch their assets in the US and, that the US government would stop the persecution against El Aissami. In exchange, El Aissami would serve as an executor and organizer of strategies for regime change through both peaceful and violent means.
Attorney General Saab highlighted that Samark López knew about Operation Gideon, the failed mercenary incursion of May 3, 2020, aimed at assassinating President Nicolás Maduro and members of the Venezuelan government, and overthrowing the government through a coup.
According to Saab, Samark López confessed that he had conversations with far-right politicians Leopoldo López, Carlos Ocariz, and Julio Borges in which he assumed the role of facilitator to discuss and finalize the actions to weaken and dismantle the Venezuelan government.
Reactions of the opposition politicians named by the attorney general
Leopoldo López was the first one to react to the audios that the attorney general made public, acknowledging their veracity and admitting that he did have connections with Samark López.
“Yes, I did have communications with many people of the regime and it would be interesting if all the conversations were made public, because there are many people who today are aligned with the power structure of the dictatorship, who were also interested, and continue to be interested in bringing about a change in Venezuela,” López responded on being consulted about whether he had had those conversations.
Carlos Ocariz, leader of the Justice First party, responded to the accusations on the night of Monday, April 29. On his social media accounts, he published a video in which he admitted having talked with Samark López in 2020 and explained the “context” in which it took place.
He said that in 2020 a social proposal was made to benefit Venezuelans during the COVID-19 pandemic, for which purpose he spoke with international organizations, representatives of several countries, and sectors of the opposition and the ruling party, including Samark López.
Ocariz justified his conversations based on the opposition’s alleged search for “electoral conditions,” ratifying the alleged role of Samark López as a “bridge” between Chavismo and sectors of the opposition.
On the other hand, Julio Borges, a fugitive, limited himself to writing on social media that Chavismo would be defeated in the next elections, without commenting on any of the accusations against him.
Coup and assassination as background elements of the corruption scheme
The complex PDVSA-Crypto plot was the largest US interventionist plot against the Venezuelan government in recent years.
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro stated that he was personally involved in the investigations into this economic and political conspiracy.
“I can say with absolute knowledge of all this evidence that it is barely 1% of what we have,” the president said. “I can guarantee that this investigation has yielded convincing evidence that there was a very corrupt mafia that took advantage of the trust and power bestowed on them, not only to steal and embezzle from the country, but also to form a plan with the extremist right wing and with the government of the United States.”
The president added that what was earlier an assumption has now been confirmed with evidence, with statements made by the accused. “They are telling the story of everything,” Maduro said.
He stated that the conversations published by the attorney general on Monday were from April and May 2020, which reveals that those who were involved in the plot had been working together for two years.
“Samark López is Tareck El Aissami’s right-hand man since the university in Los Andes,” the president continued. “This corrupt group, which has confessed to its crimes and is convicted, was formed there. At least since January 2018 they were in coordination with the conspiracy.”
El Aissami and his group had prior knowledge about the foiled assassination attempt of August 2018, the coup attempt of April 30, 2019, and Operation Gideon of May 2020.
“They had prior knowledge of the attempt on my life on August 4, 2018. They were also aware of the coup plans, executed 5 years ago, the coup of the green bananas,” President Maduro said, alluding to the failed attempt of April 30, 2019, called Operation Liberty. That failed attempt was executed by “Leopoldo López in coordination with the White House, with John Bolton and James Story,” the president added.
It is possible that the unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, especially those concerning the enforcement of direct “sanctions” against Venezuelan government officials since 2017, broke Tareck El Aissami’s loyalty and turned him into an asset in favor of his own interests and those of the US government and its Venezuelan acolytes.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
