London 20.12.2012 – A few years ago, the fools at North American Opinion Research deemed it appropriate to publish a “public participation” in Últimas Noticias. On that occasion, I was accused of vilifying Hugo Chavez, Diosdado Cabello, and Nicolás Maduro, and of defaming bankers and cooperativists, the ones who rob massively and become multi-billionaires in just a few years.
Needless to say, the requests made by those individuals at that time to investigate the so-called “illegal acts” attributed to me went nowhere, as all the information I published on the matter was backed by irrefutable evidence, indicating that North American Opinion Research was little more than a front company.
I bring this up because a couple of days ago, another group of idiots, leading yet another front company (Derwick Associates), published, this time in El Nacional, a “statement to public opinion,” in which they made a series of accusations, just as unfounded and laughable as those previously made by the little pests at North American Opinion Research.
This time I am allegedly an agent of a “defamation campaign against Derwick Associates,” supposedly orchestrated by Oscar Garcia Mendoza. In this alleged galactic conspiracy against the so-called good name (where?) of the clueless folks at Derwick Associates, I would be accompanied by Steven Bodzin, a former Bloomberg correspondent, and Cesar Batiz, a journalist recognized internationally undefined from Últimas Noticias.
In reality, whoever is advising Derwick Associates is doing those poor kids a disservice. If the primary goal of Derwick’s executives is to defend their so-called tarnished honor, the worst thing they can do is accuse journalists and bloggers, and send letters of legal threats from an American lawyer who can’t even send his missives in the proper language. The worst they can do is file lawsuits in American courts, where every one of their assertions will be questioned, and the soap opera they’ve invented will expose both them and their so-called “lawyer” to all kinds of counterclaims.
If Venezuela were a country where the rule of law prevailed, Derwick’s inquisitional stance would lead to a series of legal actions against them, such as:
Cesar Batiz could sue for defamation.
So could Últimas Noticias.
Steven Bodzin, if he chose to, could sue for defamation.
Alek Boyd could do the same.
Oscar García Mendoza could sue for defamation.
The Venezuelan state could sue Derwick Associates for illicit enrichment, overpriced public contracts, breach of contracts, subcontracting, etc.
The Attorney General could initiate criminal investigations against Derwick’s executives.
The Superintendence of Banks could investigate illegal capital movements abroad by Derwick.
The public entities to which Batiz requested information about contracts with Derwick would take immediate action to publish all related contracts with that company.
The Supreme Court would declare ridiculous confidentiality excuses illegal, related to the refusal to disclose information about contracts involving billions of dollars of public funds.
The political police would investigate personal and professional relationships between high-ranking Chavismo officials and Derwick’s executives.
The National Assembly would appoint an investigatory committee to determine whether contracts between Derwick and different state entities were made within the framework of current laws.
The Ministry of Interior and Justice would demand the Port and Airport Institute all records of flights associated with or operated by Derwick to identify all passengers who have used those aircraft.
CVG could sue Derwick for breach of contracts.
Bariven might also sue Derwick for breach.
PDVSA could sue Derwick for breach of contracts.
The Attorney General would start an internal investigation to determine why the inquiry request made by the editor of Últimas Noticias has not progressed.
The National Assembly would summon, among others, Hugo Chavez, Rafael Ramirez, Nervis Villalobos, Luis Pulido, Javier Alvarado, and Rodolfo Sanz.
In summary, the previous list is not exhaustive; a corruption scandal of this magnitude would not go unnoticed, and for the freshly-dressed folks at Derwick, I repeat, in a democratic country where the rule of law prevailed, the likely outcome would be prison—many years of prison. There would be asset seizures, account freezes, etc. In Venezuela, however, a journalist doing his job, which is nothing more than reporting matters of public interest, is subject to intimidation, pressures of all kinds, not only from the scammers he has exposed but from the high government, ministries, the political police, and private media that sell out to the highest bidder, like El Nacional, which publishes paid “statements” in social pages.
Venezuela is far from being a rule-of-law state. It’s a mess, controlled by a megalomaniac coup leader and traitor, where individuals of very little intellect become millionaires overnight. We have seen it at every level since Chavez came to power. Fernandez Barrueco, Arne Chacon, Wilmer Ruperti, the so-called bankers, Eva Golinger, a bus driver now glorified… It’s a disgraceful state of affairs, as it indicates that those who “succeed” in today’s Venezuela, who prevail, are not the most capable but the most amoral, the most corrupt, the most inept, the dirtiest. And this scum operates with absolute impunity in Venezuela. But now they’ve decided to jump onto the international scene, and with the pile of cash they’ve stolen, they can hire all sorts of services, PR firms, and New York law firms to supposedly wash an image they don’t have and have never had.
Unfortunately for those who owe their fortunes to the Chavista dedocracia, out here things have not yet reached that level of decay. White-collar criminals are everywhere, but here, when they are caught, as Cesar Batiz did, they get stripped down to their Calvin Klein underwear, just like what happened in Spain to the guy whose estate in Toledo was bought by Derwick executives for €22.79 million. Out here, everything is known; it’s getting harder to hide ill-gotten gains, and sooner or later, whether it’s the FBI, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or other entities in Europe, justice will prevail.
What remains for the kids at Derwick is to stay in Venezuela and play the tough guy, acting like “I’m the most badass here” wherever they can. Their threats beyond borders neither scare nor silence anyone.