The following is a translation of the report of the Samuel Robinson Institute for October 14, 2021.
As a fallout of the recent scandals surrounding the Venezuelan company MonĂłmeros, which was hijacked by Juan GuaidĂł in 2019 and is currently in a highly vulnerable position, the divisions intrinsic to anti-Chavismo have returned to the fore; this time, however, with a different content.
The Context
The intervention in MonĂłmeros by the Superintendency of Corporations (a regulating body attached to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce) was followed by allegations of corruption from Humberto CalderĂłn Berti and a series of improvised statements and decisions by the illegal board of directors imposed by GuaidĂł. All this seems to have ended definitively the honeymoon of the fake government which had depended on the looting of Venezuela’s public assets.
Borges vs. GuaidĂł
Faced with an imminent scandal, Julio Borges, leader of Primero Justicia party (PJ), who is directly linked to the corruption schemes surrounding MonĂłmeros, decided to distance himself from the fake government and hold former deputy Juan GuaidĂł entirely responsible for MonĂłmeros. In this way, from overseas, Borges tried to reduce the visibility of his participation in the embezzlement of Venezuelan assets in Colombia while trying to reposition himself politically.
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Moving forward
Pressured by public opinion and by his own collaborators, GuaidĂł then tried to manage the situation by announcing a not very detailed “audit,” together with a barely defined “restructuring,” which did not really address the underlying problems of MonĂłmeros. Consequently, Guillermo RodrĂguez Laprea, general manager of MonĂłmeros, was removed despite being illegally assigned to the position by GuaidĂł himself months ago.
More fuel to the fire
Far from mitigating the tensions, GuaidĂł’s damage control maneuvers had a multiplier effect. Borges questioned GuaidĂł’s announcements by stating that, “Out of nowhere and in a totally illegal and poorly done way, GuaidĂł announces that he, unilaterally, without any type of conversation, has restructured MonĂłmeros without any prior investigation. This has led everyone to suspect and be angry about the whole situation, because the logical thing is to investigate.”
More conflicts
There are other factors involved in the confrontation. Former Colombian ambassador to the US and distinguished Uribista, Francisco “Pacho” Santos, asserted that Julio Borges should resign from his position as international coordinator of GuaidĂł’s fake government, and accused him of wanting to “overthrow Guaidó” and of “cohabiting with Maduro.”
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Interests, only interests
The G4 coalition around the “GuaidĂł project” was part of a dynamic of interests, mostly mafia-like interests, the central core of which was the pillaging of public assets and access to international funds. Now that this dynamic has been broken by inequality in the distribution of the loot, the illusion of harmony has lost its effect and confrontations have emerged once more into an endless loop.
Borges’ calculation
Primero Justicia quickly joined the talks in progress in Mexico City and has launched its best players for the November 21 mega-elections, taking advantage of the paralysis of the Leopoldo LĂłpez and Juan GuaidĂł group. Borges’ wager consists of accelerating GuaidĂł’s reputation crisis in order to take out a direct competitor, the Voluntad Popular party, within G4. This would allow PJ to take the helm of the opposition after the elections, depending, of course, on electoral results and the power quotas gained in it.
Featured image: The divisions in anti-Chavismo have returned to the fore, with GuaidĂł getting solely blamed for the MonĂłmeros disaster. File photo.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
MisiĂłn Verdad
MisiĂłn Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
