By Luis Manuel Aguana
The corruption plot uncovered
following the accusation made public from the United States that the well-known
businessman Raúl Gorrín, owner of Globovisión, bribed half the Venezuelan
political class with Venezuelan money has unimaginable implications.
We all had the presumption that
opposition collaborationism was financed with the coffers of the regime and the
money of the Venezuelans, but no idea how or with whom. But little by little
the size of that iceberg will be known in much more detail, and we only know
the peak of it because we hit it. There is still much to know. The
Gorrín-Andrade duo was managed by only a billion dollars. Imagine if that alone
is a peak of thousands that exist...
For now I only wish to highlight two
aspects that have been made public and that in my opinion are extremely
important, beyond knowing who are the opposition that have enjoyed at the
expense of hunger and death of their compatriots.
The first of them is highlighted in
his Twitter account by Ambassador Diego Arria from his exile: "The assets stolen from Venezuela by
Gorrin-Andrade and others are ours and the USA should not be allowed to keep
them. AN must be activated with Rescue Law". (see in Spanish, https://twitter.com/Diego_Arria/status/1065292709211054082). Obviously the first thing that stands out is that
you have to recover the money turned into goods by these thieves.
As Ambassador Arria well informs, a
Federal Court in the State of Florida in the United States has instructed the
U.S. Treasury Department that the assets seized from those involved in this
very serious corruption case be liquidated (see NTN24 interview in Spanish with
Diego Arria, in https://youtu.be/ClAa5TbWSyg).
Ambassador Arria is right to set off
the alarms because, as he rightly says, the origin of these assets are assets
of the patrimony of Venezuelans, which were improperly appropriated by these
criminals, so they will have to return to the Venezuelan Public Treasury once
democracy is restored in our country. This measure of liquidation of assets by
the U.S. Treasury Department should only be taken to keep those funds in
custody until their due repatriation; and these in turn should be arranged by a
legitimate government.
But a number of questions arise when
I hear that question. On the one hand it is true that we will have to move
urgently in the North American Courts, something that Arria mentions in his
interview, but who should do it? The deputies of the National Assembly, who
since December 2017 are in the process of a "Law for the Recovery of
Assets Resulting from Corruption" that is going to have almost a year
between discussions and consultations but that still does not come out? And why hasn't it come out yet?
In fact, on December 14, 2017,
Venezuelans learned that the National Assembly approved a bill with a very
suggestive name, "Law for the Recovery of Assets Resulting from
Corruption" (see news of the Carabobeño in Spanish, in https://www.el-carabobeno.com/an-aprobo-proyecto-ley-recuperacion-activos-producto-la-corrupcion/). Unfortunately, we do not yet know its content, but
by its name we assume that it is in line with the proposal made by Ambassador
Arria in relation to the need for a Rescue Law.
On April 20, 2018, the President of
the Permanent Controller Commission, Congressman Freddy Superlano, publicly
announced that his Commission will present to Venezuelan public opinion and the
Diplomatic Corps the Bill for the Recovery of Corrupt Assets on April 23, 2018 (see
news of the AN in http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/_ley-de-recuperacion-de-activos-producto-de-la-corrupcion-sera-presentada-este-lunes-23-de-abril). This was going to be the last public event for his
return to the Commission "for the
discussion and elaboration of the report of what was released in the public
consultation for its later presentation to the plenary".
More than 5 months later, on October
11, 2018, Congressman Superlano informs that the Bill for the Recovery of
Assets resulting from Corruption would enter "the second discussion in two weeks before the national
Parliament, a tool whose purpose is to promote that the resources maintained
abroad, due to acts of corruption, return to the country and are invested for
the benefit of the population" (see news in Spanish in La Patilla,
in https://www.lapatilla.com/2018/10/11/superlano-proyecto-de-ley-de-recuperacion-de-activos-producto-de-la-corrupcion-entrara-en-segunda-discusion-en-dos-semanas/).
On November 14, 2018, one month
after the first year of hearing about this law, Deputy Superlano reported that "between November 27 and December 4 of
this year, are the tentative dates for the second discussion of the Bill for
the Recovery of Assets Resulting from Corruption before the national Parliament"
(see Prensa AN in Spanish, http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/_hhh).
And you will say what game is this?
Why is it that an instrument that has demonstrated with the facts that we are
seeing, to be so necessary in the face of the overflowing corruption of the
regime has not yet been approved and even less publicly released? Because it
should be noted that the text of this bill has not been published on the
official website of the National Assembly or anywhere else. We know it only by
the name and the declarations of the deputies.
The Gorrín-Andrade case grabs us
without a legal instrument to deal with the recovery of 1000 MILLION DOLLARS – easy
to say- in the United States, with a U.S. Treasury Department about to
liquidate what is Venezuelan patrimony. What makes us wonder, could it be that
part of the sack of money seized from Gorrín was precisely to stop the approval
that the National Assembly has had in its drawers for more than a year? How convenient...
Which leads me to highlight the
second aspect mentioned above that happens to this drama of this Law, and that
is as or more important than the first. Are the deputies of the National
Assembly, who have delayed this important matter, and are they in turn
constitutionally called to agree on the designation of a Transitional
Government as a consequence of the Institutional Power Void provoked by the
sentence of Nicolás Maduro Moros on October 29, ethically and morally in a
position to make that designation? Is it in the interest of Venezuelans that
all those deputies, questioned -just and sinners- by the Gorrin-Andrade scandal,
name a new government that responds to us and not to the interests of those who
would be paying for a decision in their favor?
This is so serious that if it were a
company, it would have to be closed until an audit is carried out to determine
who is and who is not a thief. If before I thought that it was not politically
convenient for the National Assembly to appoint a Transitional Government, now
I am sure that it is not in a position to appoint a new Government that will
look after the interests of Venezuelans. The whole Parliament is under serious suspicion.
The above
leaves us with the last glimmer of institutionality, the legitimate Supreme
Court of Justice in exile. It remains for these Magistrates to immediately
assume the serious responsibility to the Venezuelans for the designation of a
National Emergency Government, which integrates personalities of unquestionable
reputation before the national and international public opinion, with an
impeccable record of services in favor of the Republic, so that they
immediately embark on the legal procedures in the United States for the
recovery of the assets of the Gorrin-Andrade case and the rescue of the freedom
of Venezuela. What a task! If corruption doesn't stop, we can't either...
Caracas,
November 26, 2018
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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