The only one benefiting from Petro has been Tareck El Aissami / Photo: Vice Presidency
Elliott Abrams stated that the United States hopes that the presence of Nicolás Maduro’s former intelligence chief will help change the situation in Venezuela. What does it mean to be “hopeful” for the arrival of General Manuel Cristopher Figuera in the United States? It suggests that military figures are looking at the example of the former Sebin chief who stopped supporting Maduro. Now, both the United States and Canada have lifted the sanctions against Cristopher Figuera.
Additionally, Abrams might be hinting at another matter: the information the general possesses. Or as The Washington Post puts it: He arrived “armed with a treasure: Maduro’s secrets. The illegal gold businesses. Hezbollah cells operating in Venezuela. The level of Cuban influence within the Miraflores Palace.”
The truth is Cristopher Figuera has already hinted at numerous names. Many of these names are known, while others less so. The leaks published by the newspaper ALnavío include some; and in the exclusive interviews he granted to this same newspaper a month ago, he added even more. With these names, Cristopher Figuera arrives in the United States. Those and many more, as he also revealed additional details to The Washington Post.
Here, we compile, in the proper context, the names that Cristopher Figuera is handling. And they are not all. In Washington, he will be providing more names as necessary, he states, to weaken Maduro’s regime in every aspect. Hence, among the names he has disclosed, there are military, civilians, ministers, boliburgueses, frontmen, officials, etc. It’s like undermining power from all sides. A comprehensive operation. Information is power, and Cristopher Figuera’s information relates to corruption – he has said he never imagined so much corruption – but also about those conspiring against Maduro and how they were doing it.
Here is the first list from Cristopher Figuera.
1 – He brought up the name of Luis López, “who was the health minister, also responsible for the disaster affecting the health sector in Venezuela.” The Sebin tried to investigate him but silenced the case.
2 – He mentioned Tareck El Aissami, pointing out that he is the architect of one of the largest scams against a nation: the Petro. “At this point, no one knows how it can be used, and those who, after a propaganda campaign, acquired that crypto asset, don’t know what to do.” He notes that “the only beneficiary of Petro has been Tareck El Aissami, who also has several mining farms, despite the collapse of the electrical system that powers these farms and the internet required for cryptocurrency profits.”
Gustavo González López would be responsible for torture and extortion. Photo: Sebin
3 – He named General Gustavo González López, who has returned to lead Sebin, reinstated by Nicolás Maduro. He is accused of being responsible for torture and extortion. “From Sebin, I say that many people, entrepreneurs from various sectors, informed me that before my arrival it was a center of extortion and kidnapping; even Maduro himself told me this when I took over that agency.”
4 – He brought up the name of Maikel Moreno, the president of the Supreme Court. The man who wanted to be president of the board that would replace Maduro. He also wanted to appoint the prosecutor and the interior minister, while still keeping the presidency of the TSJ for himself. He wanted it all. It is the ambition of the magistrate – a friend of Cilia Flores – that is largely blamed for the failure of the mega-conspiracy of April 30. “Due to the power ambitions of magistrate Maikel Moreno and the meanness of the frontmen involved in that conspiracy,” he notes when asked about its failure.
5 – He named Vladimir Padrino López. The general. Minister of Defense. The Russian factor. He was involved in the mega-conspiracy. He can’t explain if he was a double agent. But other sources say that the Russians called him at the last moment on April 30 to offer guarantees to Maduro, and it was General Padrino López who delivered the message. Was this when he switched sides? Perhaps, but it could also have been a precursor to the operation. The details, such as a Supreme Court ruling that justified everything, were not guaranteed.
6 – He mentioned Iván Hernández Dala, a general and head of Military Intelligence Division, DGCIM, and of Military House. He was also part of the mega-conspiracy but Cristopher Figuera can’t confirm if he was playing both sides, against and for Maduro. Hernández Dala appears in another list by Cristopher Figuera. Among those who covered up corruption. Those who didn’t investigate cases thoroughly or pretended to.
7, 8 – He named Nicolasito Maduro Guerra. Maduro’s son. The man of gold. The looting of gold. Nicolasito’s operations are known to Cuban intelligence, informed by Cristopher Figuera. Nicolasito works with his frontman, Santiago Morón. They own various companies, both national and international. According to the former Sebin chief, they are paid with gold from the BCV.
9 – He brought up the name of Captain Juan Escalona, linking him to businesses in the Portuguesa state, and to deals with Tareck El Aissami. Escalona is a trusted figure of Maduro, and was trusted by Hugo Chávez. He is key in the Miraflores Palace, managing intrigue.
10 – He named Raúl Gorrín. A friend of Maikel Moreno. The link between the boliburguesía and the president of the TSJ. In the mega-conspiracy, figures were used, as high as 100 million dollars that boliburgueses had to pay. Once in power, Maikel Moreno and Gorrín were supposed to advocate for other boliburgueses before the United States for the lifting of sanctions. Gorrín already knows the route to do it. He is known in the United States. In fact, The Washington Post mentions that Gorrín and other boliburgueses “approached Americans with a plan. The key: Flip loyal members of Maduro’s government,” including Maikel Moreno. As ALnavío reported at the time, the plan was for the TSJ to promote the elimination of the illegitimate Constituent Assembly, the restoration of the legitimate National Assembly, which would allow the military to act, a board to be appointed, and Maduro to be expelled abroad.
11 – He named Samark López, of whom no further secrets have been revealed. He insists he is protected and a frontman for Tareck El Aissami, and “one of those who was in conversations with Maikel Moreno.”
12 – He brought up the name of Finance Minister Simón Zerpa, linked to the looting of gold.
Calixto Ortega, President of the BCV, would be linked to the looting of gold.
13 – He brought up the name of Calixto Ortega Sánchez, president of the Central Bank of Venezuela, also linked to the looting of gold.
Sebin investigated Zerpa, Ortega Sánchez, El Aissami, Nicolasito Maduro, the children of Cilia Flores. The general links the death of Colonel Jesús Alberto García Hernández – who died under mysterious circumstances in mid-May – to having investigated corruption cases associated with these names. Cristopher Figuera told ALnavío: “They probably discovered the information he was aware of, and for these ‘butchers,’ it was easier to eliminate him.”
14 – He named Alex Saab, a key operator in Maduro’s regime. Linked to Cilia Flores. Saab is Colombian by origin. He is one of the representatives of the international boliburguesía.
15 – He mentioned Freddy Bernal. In the conversations leaked by ALnavío, it is said that Bernal manages a private army of the Special Action Forces of Security, FAES, the police force that executes and eliminates at will in Venezuela.
16 – He brought up the name of Iris Varela, minister of the prison system, who, as stated to The Washington Post, requested 30,000 rifles intended to form a paramilitary army with common prisoners. Leaks indicate that Varela has an “army of armed ex-convicts.”
17, 18, 19 – He named Captain and Constituent Pedro Carreño. He says: “When he served as interior minister, he established an unprecedented network of corruption never seen before, in Public Registries and Notaries. He is also mentioned alongside his brother (General Hermes Carreño) in the PDVSA subsidiary corruption scandal, Bariven.” Another name appears in this case: “Francisco Jiménez Yusti.” “They stole Bariven’s money and it’s in Asian countries, in China, Europe, and some tax havens around the world. This investigation is being handled by the DGCIM, but it seems to be forgotten.” Pedro Carreño “doesn’t want Maduro, he wants the money.”
20 – He mentioned General Ovidio Delgado, who he associates with smuggling in the Apure state and a thing called “bochinche” in Monagas.
21 – He named Colonel Jorge Márquez Monsalve, Minister of the Presidency and president of Conatel, National Telecommunications Council. “He controls the permits and also has a corruption network for the habilitation of frequency use. He is also involved in replacing CANTV’s (state company) wiring with fiber optic, a process done by a company awarded the contract without the corresponding bidding. It remains unclear if they are actually replacing it, or if they are stealing the cable. He also has business with Huawei.”