In the second installment of the “tell me who you hang out with” series, today I discuss the “ethical hacker” and “famous member” of a global anti-pedophilia organization. His name is Rafael Eladio Nuñez Aponte, but he is widely known as RaFa. He describes himself as a “lecturer” and “entrepreneur,” with favorite hashtags like #Entrepreneurship and #Foundations. His company, “Clean Perception,” reflects a facade of “cleanliness,” concealing serious issues of public concern.
The so-called “ethical hacker,” entrepreneur, and opposition helper is simultaneously an agent of SEBIN, a puppet of General Rafael Ruiz, and collaborates with ETA members in Venezuela.
RaFa Nuñez is not an “ethical hacker”; he is a “black hat” hacker for hire in the private sector, engaging in “spamdexing,” which involves cleaning the online reputations of corrupt politicians, boliburgués, or common criminals who pay him to confuse Google’s algorithms by creating fake pages (astroturfing).
Moreover, and more importantly for the context of this piece, RaFa is an undercover agent for the Ministry of Popular Power for Internal Relations, Justice, and Peace, rumored to have connections with Iraitz Gueselaga Fernández, a member of the Basque terrorist group ETA’s cyber team.
The right-hand man of Miguel Rodríguez Torres is RaFa’s boss: General of Aviation Rafael Ruiz.
Rafael Núñez’s control in the government is maintained by Rafael Ruiz, a General of Aviation and Miguel Rodriguez Torres’s right-hand man. RaFa is also supported and protected by General Jose Felix Alvarez Tineo, who, as the Director of Counterintelligence, regarded RaFa as a pet in the office.
RaFa’s protector, Gen. Jose Felix Alvarez Tineo, is furious with him for being too talkative.
RaFa, due to his flamboyant nature and preference for mingling with the elite, is being used by the government for his proximity to opposition targets. I’ve heard that Rafael Núñez advises Nelson Bocaranda, Rocío San Miguel, Ramón Muchacho, and both the old and new Cadena Capriles, among many others. These individuals, whom RaFa advises, become pawns, as he leaks influence or money-related information to the government.
Anyone who believes this platform is mistaken has not looked into RaFa’s reputation-cleaning business: Clean Perception. Numerous articles have already been written about this. If RaFa is willing to work as a reputation guardian for Derwick Associates, Juan Carlos Escotet, Moris Beracha, Ramiro Helmeyer, etc., then how can anyone doubt that he is also a government agent? Beyond the Ministry of Internal Relations and SEBIN, he has also done work for DIM. RaFa’s ties with the corrupt director of a German company selling technology to SAIME have begun to cause significant repercussions in Germany.
The biggest issue RaFa faces is that he is no longer a hacker. More than a decade ago, RaFa was a recognized hacker, having gained fame for breaking into a U.S. government system. His current wish to appear righteous, like a reformed criminal, stems from a desperate need for a visa to visit the empire his bosses love to hate. This is why he engages in conferences, the radio program at Primicias24 (a project of Antonieta Jurado and Miguel Henrique Otero, defenders of the bolichicos Derwick), pretends to practice Buddhism, and wears the mask of innocence. He is so accepted that even VenAmCham invites him (and pays him?) to talk about cybersecurity. The reality is that, today, RaFa doesn’t know how to hack anymore. What he is proficient at is what’s called “phishing,” where he impersonates identities, sending emails to targets to obtain their email passwords and accounts on Facebook and Twitter, posing as Google, Twitter, Apple, or PayPal. By doing this, RaFa accesses the emails of his bosses’ targets. However, as a hacker, RaFa became obsolete a long time ago. His struggles stem from cheating the government and his clients due to a lack of technical skills.
Since this hacker-who-can’t-hack needs to stay relevant, he has resorted to gossiping within SEBIN. I’ve heard he suddenly lost the support he received from General Alvarez Tineo, who grew weary of his constant criticism and excessive talking. Ultimately, RaFa felt ignored, and with an ego so big that he describes himself as a “former male model,” this causes problems.
He who sows winds reaps storms, as the saying goes. Rafael Núñez continues to lose clients, works with despicable criminals, such as Ramiro Helmeyer, is at odds with his protective general at SEBIN, and worst of all, his careful and measured campaign to position himself as an “ethical hacker” and return to the U.S. seems unlikely to materialize this century.
Ramiro Francisco Helmeyer, the terrorist is one of RaFa Núñez’s star clients.
A widely-known secret in intelligence circles is that RaFa and his partner, Ivan Hernandez-Vila, participated with a group of ETA members in Venezuela in cyberterrorism activities. In other words: RaFa and his DIM and SEBIN buddies trained government and CANTV personalities on how to handle social media, hacking, and more—alongside ETA members. The ETA operatives entered Venezuela with credentials from the al-Jazeera network, but they didn’t come from Spain; they came from the Middle East and were all Spaniards.
The hourglass of the Buddhist is running out of time. A few months ago, RaFa was engaged in private Twitter conversations, waging cyberwar against innocent people (even falsely accusing a Venezuelan businessman of pedophilia). What awaits Rafael Núñez are not false accusations but realities that will be hard to escape.
By Tomás Lander