I’ve been researching the sale of El Universal to a supposed Spanish group (Epalisticia) for several days now. I can confidently assert that the trio of dubious doctors linked to Epalisticia (Eduardo Lopez de la Osa, Jose Antonio de la Torre, and Jose Luis Basanta Otero) lack both the credentials and the funds to have paid 90 million Euros for El Universal. In fact, the only legitimate business associated with de la Torre is a family printing press (Torreangulo Artes Gráficas) that went bankrupt due to insolvency last year, while Basanta Otero’s company (Gallaecia Invergest) has had its accounts frozen by the Spanish Ministry of Finance due to unpaid taxes. As for Lopez de la Osa, having worked in investment banks years ago doesn’t mean this gentleman has 90 million Euros to buy a newspaper that isn’t worth that amount, is generating losses, and is increasingly struggling to source paper for printing, all while operating in a country where no legal guarantees protect investments. Furthermore, there is an explicit prohibition in current Venezuelan legislation against foreign groups acquiring printed Spanish-language newspapers (Decree 2095, art. 26).
But, let’s put aside for a moment the fact that the company paying 90 million Euros for El Universal has a capital of just 3,500 Euros. Let’s ignore that the only partner of this company is another called Tecnobreaks Inc, with similar capital. Let’s forget that the only partner of the second company is the first (Epalisticia: sole partner Tecnobreaks – Tecnobreaks: sole partner Epalisticia). Let’s overlook that two ghost companies, operating for less than a year, with a combined capital of 7,000 Euros, and no previous experience in newspaper ownership or management, have “purchased” El Universal for 90 million Euros, despite the legal prohibitions in Venezuela. Let’s also ignore the fact that the Venezuelan regulatory body — controlled by whom? — hasn’t said a word about it. Let’s set aside the statements from the President of Venezuela — the one who talks to birds — asserting that “a person living outside Venezuela should be prohibited from owning a media outlet” (such a prohibition has existed since 1992), and instead focus on the new director of El Universal: Jesús Abreu Anselmi.
Abreu Anselmi is best known as one of the fugitives from Banco Latino. Before his appointment as the new director of El Universal, he served as the director of FM Center. FM Center is a chain of 64 AM and FM radio stations in Venezuela, founded by Rodolfo Rodríguez García, a Cuban associate/employee of Gustavo Cisneros and apologist for Gustavo Gómez López. FM Center was allegedly acquired by Rafael Sarría, a childhood friend and purported advisor and frontman for Diosdado Cabello. FM Center has received numerous contracts from state institutions, which, in the current Venezuela, does not happen with companies not aligned with chavismo.
Sarría has already distanced himself from the purchase of El Universal. But it’s worth recalling similar statements from Víctor Vargas, another dubious boliburgés, who made similar remarks when acquiring the Cadena Capriles, only to later be exposed as the main front in that operation. The reality is that neither Abreu Anselmi, nor Sarría, nor Vargas, nor any other members of the boliburguesía, have an ounce of credibility. With the precedent of Cadena Capriles, the true identity of whose owner is still unknown, and in the complete absence of truthful and verifiable information, it’s only speculation regarding the new owner of El Universal.
Gustavo Cisneros does not need a newspaper in Venezuela, and, honestly, I doubt he would be willing to risk 90 million Euros on this acquisition. Gustavo Gómez López, Abreu Anselmi’s former boss and fugitive from Venezuela since the collapse of Banco Latino, likely has the funds and could be negotiating his return to Venezuela with chavismo by participating in this operation. However, I lean towards the Sarría/Cabello duo for the following reasons:
– the Cadena Capriles and its newspapers would fall under the control of the madurista faction (Tareck el Aissami, according to Delcy Rodríguez).
– The purchase of Cadena Capriles, supposedly by a British group, was followed by a ruling from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice favoring Victor Vargas (a previous divorce ruling against Vargas was annulled), as well as approval from the regime for the merger between his Banco Occidental de Descuento and CorpBanca. This indicates that getting involved in the acquisition yielded extraordinary dividends for Vargas, which other boliburgueses (like Sarría) would keep in mind as a bargaining chip with the chavista faction interested in acquiring El Universal.
– In the internal chavista struggle between the Maduro faction and the Cabello faction, it makes more sense for Cabello to acquire El Universal through frontmen (see first point). In any case, such a acquisition, if it was connected to Gómez López or Cisneros without chavista capital participation, would have necessarily had to be approved by chavista regulators. This means that such a sale could not have been finalized without the regime’s approval, which indicates that chavismo has an interest in changing ownership of El Universal, whoever that may be, and surely will have a say in the future management and editorial line of El Universal.
Given the above, I believe that the Spanish angle (Epalisticia), despite all the interest it should generate among relevant authorities in Spain, is not paramount. The three “Spanish buyers” likely were paid enough to ensure their silence, and if we look at previous cases of money laundering involving Venezuelan funds, little can be expected from the Spanish authorities. From the Venezuelan side, at least we can infer that they are involved and have interests in this matter. Because a sale like that of the oldest newspaper in Venezuela, for 90 million Euros, to foreigners (which is prohibited) cannot be finalized without chavista approval.