President Nicolás Maduro speaks on television. Photo: archive.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stated that “there will be surprises in the operation Caiga quien Caiga [Fall Who They May],” referring to new revelations in the PDVSA-Crypto investigation, which were presented this Monday by Attorney General Tarek William Saab. He explained that former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami and his group knew about the foiled assassination attempt of August 2018, the coup attempt of April 30, 2019, and the invasion attempt Operation Gideon of May 2020.
“I can say with absolute knowledge all this evidence that this is barely 1% of what we have,” President Maduro commented on Monday, April 29, during the 43rd episode of his television program Con Maduro+. “I can guarantee that this investigation has revealed compelling elements that a very corrupt mafia was formed that took advantage of the trust and power given to them to not only rob and embezzle the country, but they also formed a plan in collusion with the extremist right and with the US government.”
He stressed that what could only be a presumption ealier has now been confirmed by evidence and statements.
President Maduro added that the conversations that Attorney General Saab showed at his Monday press conference were from April-May 2020 which revealed that the collusion had been going on for two years.
“Samark López is the right-hand man of Tareck El Aissami from the university in Los Andes—the entire corrupt group was formed there. At least since January 2018 they were in coordination with the conspiracy,” he highlighted.
Together since 2018
“They were aware of the attack carried out on August 4, 2018 against me,” President Maduro stated. “And they were also aware of the coup attempt from five years ago, the coup of the green bananas, carried out in Altamira on April 30, 2019, in coordination with [far-right politician wanted in Venezuela] Leopoldo López and the White House, with John Bolton, James Story and a last name that appears, ‘Fouli’… He is the one who ruled and still rules.”
May 3, 2024 will mark four years of Operation Gideon. On May 3, 2020, a group of paramilitaries, traitors, and some of the officers who participated in the banana coup tried to invade Venezuela by landing boats on the coast of La Guaira. “The corrupt traitors were at my side, but it never occurred to me that they were close to me and that they could betray me,” President Maduro commented, referring to El Aissami and his gang.
He also revealed that “the way we handled the issue of Operation Gideon always excluded El Aissami,” although Aissami was present in the important meetings on other serious issues.
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A large network of corruption
Maduro stated that this group had a large active conspiracy network, in which Carlos Vecchio of the Guaidó gang acted as “the great extortionist” and threatened people in Venezuela with arrest warrants or sanctions by the United States, and asked them for money in exchange for not doing it. “There was a large network of corruption and that will come out,” the president said. “We will find out how much money they gave to López, Ocariz, Vecchio and others. They stole here and gave them money there, in addition to what they stole with Guaidó. This is a scandal!”
“The gang’s aim was to destroy us from within, sabotaging the 2021-2022 economic recovery plan,” he added.
Maduro explained that some evidence began to reach him in 2021, and that year he began to direct the investigation, and now the corrupt people are imprisoned, convicted of their crimes. He also explained that he regained the governance of PDVSA in January, and that allowed the government to put a brake on inflation and to try to recover the economy.
“For the revolution to be a revolution, it has to be moral,” he pointed out. “The connection to the conspiracy goes far beyond Julio Borges, Leopoldo López. Far beyond. There may be more surprises these days.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SC
