Diosdado Cabello is the number 2 in Venezuela. His remarks about Derwick Associates were: «those gentlemen who made shady deals need to be investigated to the fullest extent». Translation: these individuals [Derwick Associates] who engaged in dubious transactions must be thoroughly investigated. Cabello was referring to Miguel Henrique Otero, the owner of the newspaper El Nacional, and how Otero has been extorting various people, including the bolichicos from Derwick.
I can’t say I’m impressed by Cabello’s words. The man has roughly the same credibility as Johan Hari or Sean Penn. Beyond that, he is accused of being the head of the “Cartel de los Soles,” a drug trafficking cartel. However, this does not diminish the fact that he seems willing to throw former business partners to the wolves. Derwick Associates paid bribes to secure 12 acquisition contracts for power generation. Cabello was one of the recipients of the Derwick bribes. Some say it was as much as $50 million. In any case, there is a recording of a Derwick executive admitting that bribes were paid.
Cabello was familiar with Derwick’s subcontractor, Pro Energy Services (PES), based in Missouri. Majed Khalil Mazjoub, one of Cabello’s associates, was already engaging in and receiving bribes from PES even before Derwick came onto the scene. What transpired was simply a swap of corrupt intermediaries.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, is set to investigate Derwick Associates, in the context of a supposedly broader investigation into corruption within Petróleos de Venezuela. So, what we see here is the number 2 in Venezuela calling for an investigation into the same thugs currently under investigation by authorities in New York and other federal agencies in the U.S.
Crucially, at least for me, is that Cabello’s calls for investigation have put an end to the absurd claims from Derwick that the investigations into their affairs are nothing but a “smear campaign” initiated by me. While Chavista websites have suddenly found it worthwhile to reprint my research, no reasonable person will ever believe that Diosdado Cabello says or acts according to my directives or based on the information published on this website.
Sources revealed some time ago that, in their desperate attempt to avoid imminent accusations, Derwick executives are cooperating with U.S. authorities. It is rare, to say the least, that Roberto Rincón and Abraham Shiera are imprisoned in the U.S. for doing exactly what Derwick Associates did (paying bribes to PDVSA personnel, money laundering, etc.), yet the Derwick people remain free. In other words, prosecutors from Texas and Florida have found enough FCPA violations and corruption related to Venezuela to prosecute and imprison individuals, where New York authorities seem to see none for now…