Foto/Archivo
Since 2023, Cuentas Claras Digital has highlighted a key figure in the corruption network of the Maduro regime: Ramón Carretero. In addition to the activities outlined in the recent Armando.info publication, it’s important to emphasize his role in illegal negotiations linked to PDVSA’s oil sales and operations involving currency differentials, where the son of Raúl Castro in Cuba and Carlos Malpica Flores, nephew of Cilia Flores, are also involved. Another significant operator in this scheme is Félix Falabella Napolitano, a Panamanian businessman engaged in evading sanctions against the Venezuelan regime in the oil sector, arms sales, and irregular commercial activities, all in a constant triangulation between Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela.
The autocrat Nicolás Maduro is responsible for looting PDVSA
Ramón Carretero Napolitano, a Panamanian entrepreneur with experience in business in Cuba, has maintained a lucrative relationship with the Venezuelan regime since 2013, when Nicolás Maduro took power after Hugo Chávez’s illness. Alongside his brothers, Carretero has executed various state-funded projects in Venezuela, including the construction of gyms, a baseball stadium, a convention center, the remodeling of a hotel, and the importation of products such as toys, tires, and appliances, amounting to approximately 769 million dollars. According to Armando Info.
The investigation reveals that part of these public funds ended up benefiting close relatives of the presidential couple. In 2014, companies linked to Juan Carlos López Tovar and his then-wife, Iriamni Malpica Flores—niece of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife—received at least 5.8 million dollars in payments from the Carretero Napolitano companies.
Delcy Rodríguez, the owner of everything
Aside from the financial ties, the relationship between Carretero and López Tovar included private jet trips and business partnerships in Panama. Financial movements among these parties were conducted through institutions like AllBank in Panama and the Bank of Orinoco in Curacao, both owned by Venezuelan banker Víctor Vargas Irausquín, known as “the red banker,” who also owns Banco Occidental de Descuento (BOD). These entities were later liquidated due to financial irregularities.
This case exemplifies how certain entrepreneurs have capitalized on their connections to political power in Venezuela, securing million-dollar contracts and, in turn, benefiting those within the presidential circle.
Check out the full report on Armando.Info