By Sebastiana Barráez | Infobae
Alexánder Enrique Granko Arteaga serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) and heads the Special Affairs Unit (DAE) within the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim). He is the real power within this organization, where horrific tortures have taken place. Along with Brigadier General Rafael Antonio Franco Quintero, he initiated a dark era of torture, persecution, and threats against both military personnel and civilians, some being political prisoners and others labeled as traitors by the revolution, with corruption cases opened against them.
A graduate of the Officer Training School (Efofac), graduating fourth in the II Promotion “Battle of Miel” in 2003, he was promoted to Major on June 29, 2016, under resolution 014717, and in 2020 he ascended to Lieutenant Colonel, ranking number one. Among intelligence officials, his accomplishment of executing pilot Oscar Pérez and a group of young individuals who had already surrendered during the so-called Massacre of El Junquito is considered notable.
Granko is the dominant figure in DGCIM, despite having higher-ranking military superiors, such as colonels and generals, as well as Major General Iván Hernández Dala, the head of Dgcim. He has not only facilitated the creation of numerous cases by the Investigations Directorate against detained military and civilians who have been tortured, but he also influences the administration of justice by altering dates or coordinating witness testimonies.
He is often seen participating in activities on high-performance motorcycles, bicycles, and firearms training, but Granko also has a penchant for luxury properties, expensive vehicles, scrap-related businesses, and anything profitable at the ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello.
Since Granko and Franco established the structure of power and torture within DGCIM, officials have also been required to offer rewards in exchange for loyalty among other officials willing to do anything for personal gain. They participate in what is referred to as the ‘war loot,’ which consists of items stolen, including foreign currency, gold jewelry, expensive trinkets, firearms, mobile phones, designer clothing and shoes, computers, electrical devices, and even vehicles. This loot is sold on the black market, with profits shared among participants and key witnesses used by DGCIM in their reports.
However, Granko’s spoils are greater; they comprise houses, estates, haciendas, aircraft, and luxury vehicles. This was exemplified on August 14, 2020, when DGCIM officials, led by Captain Ibis Ramírez, claiming to act under Granko Arteaga’s orders, raided the property known as Quinta Los Gnomos in Urbanization El Caribe, Club Yacht Street, Caraballeda, La Guaira.
They forcibly took over the property, broke locks, covered security cameras, and seized the furniture.
This beautiful house, built by César Capriles in 1968, was inherited by his granddaughter, Isabel González Capriles. She had rented it to a couple with three children who were evicted by Dgcim. There was no search warrant, nor was there an order from any court; it was merely Granko’s whim to seize the property, which has an attractive and small private dock leading to the sea.
Similar to other cases and properties, DGCIM knows that Isabel González, daughter of Mitzi Capriles and wife of former minister Andrés Izarra, does not dare to come to the country to claim the house due to the risk of being imprisoned. Hence, they take the property without the right to defense, breaking locks, covering security cameras, and taking the furniture of Los Gnomos.
The Quinta
Since the house was raided by DGCIM, it has become one of the properties that Granko uses with individuals of personal interest, such as model Paola Dávila, who shares photos from inside the house on her social media, enjoying the property, its furniture, dishes, and all that belongs to Isabel González.
The Quinta Los Gnomos the day it was invaded by DGCIM
The property of Isabel González enjoyed by Dávila and Granko
At first, many officials and vehicles from DGCIM arrived at this charming retreat, broke locks, and stayed there for several days. However, since they evicted the family with children, it has mostly been used for the pleasure of Paola and an occasional model who visits with Colonel Granko.
Dávila, whose occupation is unknown, recently opened a swimwear boutique in the Las Mercedes urbanization in Caracas. Many of her social media photos depict her inside the house, often accompanied by close relatives or on yachts from the dock of the property taken from Isabel González.
Similar occurrences have taken place with other properties such as haciendas or farms. When the DGCIM apprehends a landowner, cattle breeder, businessman, or merchant, the victim is almost always compelled to pay a hefty sum of money or relinquish properties in exchange, which become part of the war loot distributed by the torture structure established in DGCIM.
Abuse of Power
Recently, engineer Elías Rangel Macho Hernández, the Regional General Director of the Orinoco Belt affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum and former Director of the Ministry of Labor’s Office, reported the disappearance of Ángel Javier Navas Figueroa on March 18, 2022, in Calabozo, Guárico state. Navas was attached to the office of that population, which belongs to the Valley of La Pascua Zone Chief.
Ángel Navas detained and isolated by Dgcim for sabotaging the fuel tanker intended for Granko. He’s now forced to resign.
Navas observed the reception of two fuel tankers at the Puente Aldao service station in Calabozo, prompting him to check the delivery invoices from the plant. The station manager informed him that the first tanker (9,804 liters of diesel) was for normal delivery to users, while “the other tanker (37,025 liters of diesel) is exclusively for Commander Granko, belonging to DGCIM.”
The Puente Aldao in Calabozo, Guárico state
Upon noticing this irregularity, Navas contacted Henry González, consultant for PDVSA National Market (PDVSA MENA) with jurisdiction over the area. González informed him that “this was an instruction issued by the General Director of PDVSA MENA, Marino Lugo, to ES Puente Aldao, without knowing whether it was for a specific individual or for public distribution,” and instructed him to call Jhonny Fernández, Manager of PDVSA MENA Service Stations in the Central District.
“Ángel Navas alerted the necessary parties at the Valley of La Pascua Zone Chief, who in turn notified the Regional Director of the Orinoco Belt. Subsequently, the Ministry of Petroleum (Technical Office Calabozo) urged the concessionaire to distribute said fuel as per the regulations; however, the concessionaire refused, claiming to have instructions indicating that the fuel was for Granko.”
In light of this, “the Zone Chief instructed Ángel Navas to initiate administrative procedures against the service station, which had been closed on Sunday. The following day, Navas surveyed the gas station, but “at 11:30 AM, he received notification from DGCIM Calabozo to appear in San Juan de Los Morros at 2 PM for an unspecified investigation process. Navas notified that he could not attend that day due to the sudden nature of the summons, the lack of transportation logistics, and stated he would go the next day.”
The Trap and Dismissal
By late afternoon, Navas received a call from the service station stating that “they had authorization from Caracas to dispense diesel to the public and required his presence for this activity”; he responded that it was preferable to do it first thing on Tuesday to ensure users could access the service.
That night, Macho Hernández reported, “an aggressive and arbitrary DGCIM team showed up at Ángel Navas’s house, who was not home; the invitation from the concessionaire for him to come to the service station seemed like a pretext to detain Navas.”
On the morning of Tuesday, March 22, the Zone Chief unsuccessfully tried to contact Navas. “They contacted the concessionaire, who reported that late on Monday night, a DGCIM team surrounded the service station and along with the concessionaire conducted a diesel dispatch apparently of 6000 liters, and that they had our staff member Ángel Navas in their vehicle.”
Padrino López signed the resolution promoting Granko from number one to Lieutenant Colonel in 2020
The Zone Chief and the Regional Directorate tried to determine if Navas was in the Dgcim in San Juan de Los Morros or in Caracas. They called National Prosecutor 55, Ramón Torres, who handles cases of fuel trafficking and diversion through the Public Ministry under the Iron Hand Operation.
In a message sent at that time, Macho Hernández urged his colleagues, Directors, and other members of Minpetróleo to unite “in a solidarity campaign with our colleague Ángel Navas and to review our role in ensuring that the Internal Market of Minpetróleo and MENA PDVSA help eradicate the vices in the mismanagement of fuel distribution and contribute to the Iron Hand operation and further to the transparency and guarantees for the effective and efficient provision of this public service to the population.”
Pressure eventually led to Navas’ release, but engineer Macho Hernández was dismissed from his position as Regional General Director of the Orinoco Belt at MinPetróleo, while Ángel Javier Navas Figueroa was pressured to resign.
This all evidences the abuse of power and influence trafficking by Granko Arteaga from his position in the Special Affairs Directorate of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence.