Last week, we witnessed some of the most horrifying videos and images showcasing police brutality and military repression against unarmed civilians in Venezuela. The death toll has reached 38. While President Nicolás Maduro plays baseball with the Chavista leader Diosdado Cabello, dances on national television, or talks to cows, the country’s situation resembles a failed state.
During this time, I received a leak revealing a rather curious transaction: Zuma Seguros, an insurance company owned by Gustavo Mendiri, Ciro Amesty, and Renny Calderin, issued documents presenting itself as a guarantor on behalf of Sinotrade Global Group Ltd, for $1.7 million to provide the Venezuelan army with “logistical support material.” Sinotrade is a shell company registered in Hong Kong, with no prior background. Its director, Gabriel Miño Mendoza, allegedly in the business of automotive upholstery, lacks any credentials in the provision and acquisition of such material.
When I asked Gabriel Miño Mendoza to confirm or deny this information, he closed his Twitter and Facebook accounts and immediately deleted his profile picture on Whatsapp (too late). I then asked General Giuseppe Yoffreda Yorio PA to confirm or deny his involvement. No response has been received. Yoffreda Yorio has a history of being involved in corruption and awarding millions of dollars to thugs like Miño.
What I find criminal about this deal is that Venezuelan children are dying of hunger, people are perishing due to a lack of basic medicines, and yet the Maduro regime finds it appropriate to allocate $1.7 million – at a preferential exchange rate (1$ = 10 BsF) – to an unknown thug, so the army can continue its brutal abuses and killings of protesters.