Missed chance to rip the veil from corruption in Venezuela

Roger Noriega:
The Netherlands’ decision to release powerful retired Venezuelan general Hugo Carvajal in Aruba, arrested Wednesday at the request of US law enforcement, is a boon to the narcostate in Caracas. It will make it easier for the Obama administration to continue ignoring the corrupt and repressive regime in Venezuela.

What happens in Venezuela matters here. It’s the world’s ninth-largest oil exporter, with the largest proven petroleum reserves of any country. And that nation of 30 million people and a $400 billion economy has disproportionate influence in the Americas.

Its government has spent billions of dollars on Russian arms and abetted the criminal activities of Iran and Hezbollah.

And the Carvajal arrest could’ve rip the veil off the regime’s alliance with Colombian narcotraffickers.

Were federal prosecutors to lay out their case against Carvajal in a New York courtroom, they’d reveal the involvement of dozens of senior Venezuelan officials in narcotrafficking and related crimes — exposing the regime’s lawlessness.

These revelations would have a devastating impact on a government that has been falling apart since the death of leftist strongman Hugo Chávez in March 2013.

His successor, Nicolás Maduro, is wrestling with an oil sector faltering thanks to colossal corruption and mismanagement, a collapsing economy, rampant street crime and expanding political unrest. Worse, the money’s running out, as Caracas spends down its dwindling international reserves.

Maduro’s failings have cost him the support of very poor Venezuelans who depend on government handouts and are weary of routine food shortages and blackouts.

Worse for Maduro, a cadre of Chavista military leaders have never supported him, particularly since he was promoted to the presidency over one of their own, Diosdado Cabello.
...
There is more.

I have blogged before about the Venezuela connection to drug trafficking not only into the US but also Europe via West Africa.  I don't know why the Dutch would let this guy go, but it is a missed chance to uncover the corruption that plagues Venezuela.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Conn Carroll: A new survey of 368 midsize to large companies found that 29% of them are considering terminating their active employee health care plans when Obamacare is full implemented in 2014. Only 71% of employers surveyed said they did not expect to drop their health coverage, while 20% said they did not know and 9% said they were planning to exit. The latest survey, conducted by Towers Watson, echoes an ealier survey by McKinsey & Co. finding that 30% of private-sector employers were planning to drop their employee health insurance coverage by 2014. When the Congressional Budget Office crunched Obamacare's spending numbers, they estimated that only 7% of employees currently covered by employer-sponsored plans would lose their plans. ... This means the cost of the health care fiasco will be hundreds of billions more than estimated by the CBO and Congressional Democrat. It is also clear that Obama's pledge that you could keep your health care plan if you wanted t
Read more

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains

James Robbins: ... Bin Laden suggests that President Bush should allow Zarqawi’s body to be returned to his family in Jordan, but this is a matter that is up to the Jordanian government, which so far has not shown much interest in facilitating a homecoming. Bin Laden mocks King Abdullah II, calling him a Coalition minion, and asking “w hat scares you about Abu Musab after he’s dead? You know that his funeral, if allowed to happen, would be a huge funeral showing the extent of sympathy with the mujahedin.” A large crowd would definitely turn out, though most people would be on hand to demonstrate their anger and disgust. Last November’s hotel bombings in Amman , masterminded by Zarqawi, are still fresh in people’s memory, and mentioning them to Jordanians has the same visceral impact as memory of the 9/11 attacks does here. Jordan has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards those who choose to mourn the country’s least favorite son, and four opposition members of parliament who paid con
Read more