Global Witness, self-proclaimed protector of “human rights and the environment by fearlessly confronting corruption and challenging the systems that enable it,” remains silent on PDVSA. In fact, it’s complete silence. A search for PDVSA on the Global Witness site yields a single (1) result. Since 1993, the year Global Witness states it began operations, nothing has been done regarding PDVSA’s corruption—a situation that could easily overshadow all other corruption campaigns Global Witness has undertaken combined. Recently, Global Witness published a report based on the Lava Jato scandal in Brazil. Better late than never, the report includes the following passing comment:
“Global Witness’s new findings will heighten concerns about corruption risks at a time when the three leading commodity traders are already under scrutiny. In March, a trust from Venezuela’s state oil company sued Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura, and other companies for bribery and insider trading. In July, Glencore’s stock price dropped by 12% in one day due to news of a U.S. investigation into alleged money laundering and corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Venezuela. The commodity firms deny any wrongdoing.”
This report is not groundbreaking for those of us focused on corruption in Latin America. There are no “new findings” in it. While bringing together the cast of characters may seem like a last-minute news story, the reality is that the activities of Marc Rich‘s substitutes around the world (Trafigura, Glencore, Vitol, etc.) are well known and reported. What Global Witness lacks is the chavista elephant in the room. Describing the PDVSA US Litigation Trust as an entity with supposedly legitimate claims against Glencore, Vitol, and Trafigura is, to put it mildly, extreme ignorance. That trust is a monumental scam. Bloomberg might justify it by stating that their reporters need to produce stories on any news that arises. But Global Witness?
I noticed that Nick Donovan, described in his Twitter bio as “Campaign Director, Anti-Corruption NGO,” began following me. When I asked him what his interest was in Venezuelan corruption, he mentioned that Global Witness was investigating “Glencore’s activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” and that he had read an article published on this site “speculating” about who was behind the establishment of the PDVSA US Litigation Trust (Wilmer Ruperti).
The issue with the Nick Donovans of this world is that if traditional media cannot corroborate it, then it must be speculation. I find that behavior more than insulting. It’s actually racist. If the perceived wrongdoers cannot comment on the record, and there’s no public information available for follow-up/investigation, then it never happened. Needless to say, Global Witness completely ignores Venezuelan corruption and has much to catch up on in this regard. Petrobras/Lava Jato is child’s play compared to PDVSA, and one can only hope that in pursuit of its stated mission, Global Witness finally wakes up and conducts a proper investigation/report/campaign about it.
As a form of encouragement, Global Witness might start with this little bit of “speculation”: former PDVSA staff, Sargeant employee, Roberto Finocchi, who was accused of FCPA violations (bribery payments to Candido Vaccarezza facilitated by Jorge Luz) related to the dealings of Sargeant Marine with Petrobras.
The dealings of Roberto Finocchi with Jorge Luz
Global Witness could also seek comments from Wilmer Ruperti, Vanessa Freedman, John Brennan, David Boies, Alex Pencu, Bill Duker, and Gueric Canonica. And then from the usual suspects/targets like Glencore, Trafigura, Vitol, Lukoil, Helsinge, among others. Swiss prosecutor Johan Droz knows a thing or two. U.S. prosecutors could also comment on leads related to all parties involved in the PDVSA trust claim. As argued previously, there is not a single honest broker involved in the formation, establishment of the trust, and subsequent legal actions in Switzerland and Florida.
It’s about time for Global Witness to start focusing on the largest oil corruption scandal in the world. It’s not taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, or Brazil. That’s what they should be aware of by now. That Glencore, Trafigura, Vitol, and others are completely corrupt firms is not news; on the contrary, that is their business model wherever they operate.