“One of those journalists is considered a criminal by Venezuelan justice for drug-related offenses, car theft, and assault, and has an arrest warrant to be executed as soon as he arrives in Venezuela, as there is even a capture order from the CICPC against him.”
I imagine that, in that context, you are referring to the legal use of the term: “Defendant in a civil or criminal case, as opposed to the plaintiff.” Please correct me if I’m wrong.
So, “defendant in a civil or criminal case…” Who has accused me, Henry, the “Venezuelan justice”? Which one is that? The one that jails judges for adhering strictly to existing laws? The one that illegally keeps that friend of yours imprisoned? The one whose top custodians chant in unison “Uh, ah, Chavez doesn’t go”? The one that systematically disrespects the human, civil, and political rights of all Venezuelans, ignoring due process? Is that the “justice” I’m a “criminal” in, Henry? And with much pride. In fact, I will continue to do so unless I confront a system of “justice” where the regime always wins.
At least you had the courtesy to correctly state the “crimes” that the “Venezuelan justice” claims I am involved in. I thank you for that. If you look closely, that “capture order from the CICPC,” that supposedly “weighs against” me, attributes a crime that isn’t even defined in Venezuelan laws, such as “drug trafficking.” Just as you wrote it, Henry, “druG trafficking.” If your intellectual rigor allows, you might also notice the date on that “capture order”: 05/2008. It even has a case number. But notice that “Venezuelan justice” waited until about February 2013 to leak that “capture order” to some anonymous media, and others aligned with the Chavista regime. Then, in May 2014, to lend more “credibility” to the matter, they added a photo. Why, Henry? Five to six years to notify me, and not through public notices from a competent court in relevant media, as should be done in due process, and you know that better than I do. Instead, it was through anonymous blogs and pages of figures with no credibility. Is that the “justice” I should supposedly comply with, as you suggest?
The media that have taken it upon themselves to publish about my supposed issues with “Venezuelan justice” are run by really rude individuals. I must admit, Henry, and I hope you forgive my use of the vernacular, but no other adjective fits. Imagine how rude they are, that they resurrected my mother, who died of cancer in 1983, and claimed she was supposedly leading a “drug trafficking gang” since 2006. And it doesn’t stop there; their capacity to resurrect people is so outrageous that they also brought back Hugo Chavez, claiming to have seen him strolling normally the day before his anointed one announced to the world that Chavez had died. You are basing your arguments against me on those media, Henry.
You have no idea how much I appreciate you making public the fact that the CICPC plans to execute an “arrest warrant” against me “as soon as I arrive in Venezuela.” It seems they keep you well informed.
If we are to speak of criminals, dear Henry, how many of the individuals you mention in your recent public letter are free from civil or criminal lawsuits? Haven’t your relatives ever been sued civilly or criminally at some point? Do you refer to them as criminals as well, when you talk to them? When you visit your friend Victor in prison, if you do visit him, what do you say, “Hey brother” or “Hey criminal”? I imagine you have explained over and over during your visits to Victor and all those people that Acción Demócrata defends that the utmost respect for due process characterizes “Venezuelan justice.” Or do you tell them they have no chance of winning?
And you, Henry, in your long political career and firm stance against corruption, have you never been “Charged in civil or criminal proceedings”?
I understand that my writings have caused you great annoyance. To you, and many others, and in that, we share the pride of measuring the impact of our shared fight against corruption based on the reactions our accusations generate in those we have denounced. Imagine the kind of reactions my investigations generate, Henry, that they sent someone to rob the apartment where I live in London and threatened to sexually assault my daughters.
Understanding that you even took the trouble to call mutual acquaintances, asking them to stop my “outrageous acts” against you. There aren’t any, Henry. I mistakenly thought that your stance against corruption was as uncompromising as mine, and therefore, I erroneously assumed, “If my father-in-law or brother-in-law were involved in the schemes attributed to them, I would demand explanations immediately and comment on it.” A mistake on my part, without a doubt, perhaps due to that saying you’ve surely heard, “the wife of Caesar must not only be honorable but also appear to be so,” or my unwavering stance against corrupt individuals.
I find it interesting that you claim to have been “informed” by people who know my “professional performance.” Who are these people, Henry? Would you mind elaborating a bit on the “methods” that, according to your informants, I use when “seeking sponsors”? Or does this substantiation arise from the anonymous report you received?
You wrote a bit about Derwick Associates. Its story still fascinates me. It’s difficult to summarize the problems of Venezuela at times, and in Derwick Associates, I found the explanation for everything. All the political and financial collusions, influence peddling, corruption, illicit enrichment, new wealth, false philanthropy, hypocrisy, absence of ethics, abuse of power, duplicity, banality, superficiality, lack of ethics, disrespect for the nation and all its inhabitants, nepotism, and the brazen idiosyncrasy of a certain Venezuelan “business” class can be observed, studied, and analyzed through Derwick Associates. I won’t include amorality, as there must exist a moral basis for getting rich at any cost to carry out such actions. But don’t attribute to me the “outrage” of connecting you with Derwick; that belongs, as you rightly say, to “one of the great achievements of contemporary civilization, which is the individuation and non-transferability of responsibility” (sic), surely “very personal.”
As I don’t expect any media in Venezuela, independent or not, to echo my latest response to your attacks, I propose, if this interests you, and with the hope that your capacity for dialogue is not limited to undermining the Chavista regime, that you unblock me on Twitter, so we can continue this debate on important issues for the future of our country.
The entry ¿Reo Henry? was first published on El Faro del Morro.