U.S. Indictment of Top Venezuelan Officials
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Corruption and Crisis in Venezuela: Asset Repatriation for Humanitarian Relief
CORRUPTION AND CRISIS IN VENEZUELA: ASSET REPATRIATION FOR HUMANITARIAN RELIEF Policy Options and Considerations A Policy Brief from the Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program SEPTEMBER 2020 © 2020, Inter-American Dialogue. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivatives License. To view this license, visit (www. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0). For re-use or distribution, please include this copyright notice. First Edition. Printed in Washington, DC. Cover photo: UNICEF/2018/Moreno / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 Layout: Catharine Christie / Inter-American Dialogue REPORT | SEPTEMBER 2020 CORRUPTION AND CRISIS IN VENEZUELA: ASSET REPATRIATION FOR HUMANITARIAN RELIEF Policy Options and Considerations A Policy Brief from the Inter-American Dialogue’s Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program SEPTEMBER 2020 Corruption and Crisis in Venezuela: Asset Repatriation for Humanitarian Relief 3 Foreword The Inter-American Dialogue is pleased to present Corruption and Crisis in Venezuela: Asset Repatriation for Humanitarian Relief. This groundbreaking report is the culmination of over a year of research by the Dialogue’s Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program. Against the backdrop of the ongoing institutional breakdown and humanitarian emergency in Venezuela, the report analyzes one of the salient features of contemporary Venezuela—industrial scale corruption—and presents detailed proposals for repatriating potentially billions of dollars of stolen assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. The policy options and recommendations offered in the report are based on careful legal analysis, comparative case studies, and a detailed grasp of the complexity of the political situation in Venezuela and the intricacies of US policy. -
Spy Drama, Foiled Venezuela Coup
Woman with Florida ties tangled up in spy-vs.-spy drama, foiled Venezuela coup BY ANTONIO MARÍA DELGADO, KEVIN G. HALL, AND SHIRSHO DASGUPTA DECEMBER 14, 2020 08:30 AM, UPDATED DECEMBER 18, 2020 02:48 PM URL: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article247781875.html The Maduro regime in Venezuela wants her extradited to face justice for a failed coup hatched in South Florida. The Colombian government accuses her of being in cahoots with narcoterrorists and her family describes Yacsy Alexandra Álvarez Mirabel as a nerdy marketing specialist caught up in events much larger than she ever could have imagined. Álvarez is a mysterious, little-known player in the coup attempt, led by former U.S. special operations soldier Jordan Goudreau and his Florida security company Silvercorp USA, that sought to topple Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Confounding details of the escapade are just now trickling out, months after it failed, leaving two ex-U.S. soldiers captured and jailed in Venezuela. Álvarez, who owned a modest condo in Tampa and incorporated a company there in April 2017, gave an exclusive telephone interview from her jail in Colombia, proclaiming her innocence. “I am not a terrorist. I don’t have anything to do with weapons, nor with military people. I am a humanist. I believe in human beings. I believe very much in God,” she said. In video messages made months before her arrest in Colombia and obtained exclusively by the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald and their parent McClatchy, Álvarez insisted the Colombian government knew of the planned May coup, known as Operation Gideon. -
The United States Should End Its Economic Sanctions Against Venezuela
January 2020 Advanced Public Forum Brief 2 Resolved: The United States should end its economic sanctions against Venezuela. This topic brief was written by Jesse Meyer. Jesse is a diamond coach, recipient of the Donald Crabtree Service Award, the state of Iowa’s 2015 Coach of the Year, member of the TOC’s PF advisory board, and board member of the Iowa Forensics League. He is currently an assistant coach at Iowa City West High School. He can be reached at [email protected]. National Speech & Debate Association • Public Forum Debate: JANUARY 2020 ADVANCED BRIEF January 2020 Advanced Public Forum Brief 3 Table of Contents Contents Advanced PF Brief January 2020 ................................................................................................................... 1 Resolved: The United States should end its economic sanctions against Venezuela. .................................. 2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Framework and Definitions ................................................................................................................... 9 Civilians .................................................................................................................................................... 13 Sample Evidence ................................................................................................................................. -
Desafíos Para La Seguridad Y La Defensa En El Continente
JOSÉ GUSTAVO AROCHA “La década 2020-2030 que comienza, sin duda, quedará marcada por el sello de una pandemia que CRAIG A. DEARE lamentablemente ha dejado miles de muertes y que DESAFÍOS PARA LA SEGURIDAD Y LA DEFENSA Y LA DEFENSA LA SEGURIDAD PARA DESAFÍOS también agudizará la pobreza y la desigualdad, que AMERICANO 20 EN EL CONTINENTE DESAFÍOS PARA MARIO DUARTE son factores estructurales detrás de problemas como el narcotráfico, la violencia de las pandillas y las olas LA SEGURIDAD Y LA DEFENSA EVAN ELLIS migratorias que cruzan todo el continente. A ello se suman enormes desafíos como el cambio climático EN EL CONTINENTE AMERICANO ROSENDO FRAGA y la presencia de actores extrarregionales con agen- das disruptivas. 2020-2030 JOHN GRIFFITHS SPIELMAN ¿Cuál será el rol que tendrán las fuerzas armadas de la región en este escenario? Esa es justamente la ATHANASIOS HRISTOULAS reflexión que este libro del centro de estudios AthenaLab busca oportunamente recoger, invitan- JOSEPH HUMIRE do a expertos de distintos países en este propósito. Mis más de tres décadas en el mundo militar me MARIANA KALIL enseñaron que si las fuerzas armadas quieren ser exitosas en entornos complejos, como los actuales, AGUSTÍN MACIEL-PADILLA deben ser flexibles, abiertas y siempre estar pensan- do un paso más adelante”. 20-2030 JUAN CARLOS PINZÓN John Grifths Spielman Almirante USN (r) James Stavridis Juan Pablo Toro JOSÉ ROBLES MONTOYA editores THIAGO RODRIGUES JAMES STAVRIDIS JUAN PABLO TORO DESAFÍOS PARA LA SEGURIDAD Y LA DEFENSA EN EL CONTINENTE AMERICANO 2020-2030 Desafíos para la seguridad y la defensa en el continente americano 2020-2030 John Griffiths Spielman y Juan Pablo Toro (eds.) ATHENALAB Av. -
Venezuela: a Dying Country by Robert Knotts
Venezuela: A Dying Country By Robert Knotts Introduction While the world rightfully remains focused on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the already failing state of Venezuela approaches an even more harrowing time, which has been largely unnoticed by the global community. Already labeled a failed country by many, it seems unlikely that the current Venezuelan leadership can survive the COVID-19 crisis and emerge unscathed, although they will continue to attempt to consolidate power. As the military is assigned even more control over daily activities, the future of Venezuela remains murky. However, until a change in government, voluntarily or forced, Venezuela and its beleaguered population seem destined for more misery. Why does all this matter and why should the rest of the world care about what happens on the north coast of South America? First and foremost is the human tragedy that is unfolding in Venezuela, which will undoubtedly be magnified by COVID-19. A second major concern is the instability and insecurity that Venezuela is fomenting throughout the region. Finally, the failure of Venezuela will eventually have a global impact, as the country possesses the largest proven oil reserves in the world and is also a significant state sponsor of trafficking in illicit goods ranging from endangered wildlife to illegal gold and, most significantly, drugs. Origins of the Crisis So how did the once-wealthiest country in South America arrive at this unfortunate state? Even a cursory look at the decline of Venezuela cannot help but place the blame on corrupt, incompetent, self-serving political leadership. Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías,1 president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, had already started his country down the road to disaster before his demise. -
Cocaine in Colombia and Venezuela
RESEARCH REPORT BEYOND THE NARCOSTATE NARRATIVE What U.S. Drug Monitoring Data Says About Venezuela By Geoff Ramsey and David Smilde MARCH 2020 KEY FINDINGS • Venezuela’s state institutions have deteriorated and the country lacks an impartial, transparent, or even functional justice system. In this environment, armed groups and organized criminal structures, including drug trafficking groups, have thrived.But U.S government data suggests that, despite these challenges, Venezuela is not a prima- ry transit country for U.S.-bound cocaine. U.S. policy toward Venezuela should be predicated on a realistic understanding of the transnational drug trade. • Recent data from the U.S. interagency Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB) in- dicates that 210 metric tons of cocaine passed through Venezuela in 2018. By compar- ison, the State Department reports that over six times as much cocaine (1,400 metric tons) passed through Guatemala the same year. • According to U.S. monitoring data, the amount of cocaine trafficked from Colombia through Venezuela is significant, but it is a fraction of the cocaine that is sent through other transit countries. Around 90 percent of all U.S.-bound cocaine is trafficked through Western Caribbean and Eastern Pacific routes, not through Venezuela’s Eastern Caribbean seas. • There was an increase in cocaine flows through Venezuela in the period from 2012 to 2017, but that increase corresponds with a surge in cocaine production in Colombia during that same time. CCDB data suggests the amount of cocaine trafficked through Colombia rose from 918 metric tons in 2012 to 2,478 metric tons in 2017 (a 269 per- cent increase), and from 159 to 249 metric tons in Venezuela in that same period (a 156 percent increase). -
Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations
Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations Updated April 28, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R44841 SUMMARY R44841 Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations April 28, 2021 The crisis in Venezuela has deepened under the authoritarian rule of Nicolás Maduro, who has consolidated power despite presiding over a dire economic and humanitarian Clare Ribando Seelke, crisis worsened by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Maduro, Coordinator narrowly elected in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chávez (president, 1999-2013), and the Specialist in Latin United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) took de facto control of the National American Affairs Assembly, the last independent branch of government, in January 2021. Maduro has resisted U.S. and international pressure to step down and an opposition led by Juan Rebecca M. Nelson Guaidó, the National Assembly president elected in 2015 and once regarded as interim Specialist in International Trade and Finance president by nearly 60 countries. Venezuela’s economy has collapsed. The country is plagued by hyperinflation, severe Rhoda Margesson shortages of food and medicine, and a dire humanitarian crisis that has further Specialist in International deteriorated as a result of gasoline shortages, COVID-19, and U.S. sanctions. Maduro Humanitarian Policy has blamed sanctions for the economic crisis, but many observers cite economic mismanagement and corruption as the main factors. U.N. agencies estimate 5.6 million Phillip Brown Venezuelans have fled the country as of April 2021. Specialist in Energy Policy U.S. Policy The U.S. government ceased recognizing Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president in January 2019. -
The Cocaine Pipeline to Europe
RESEARCH REPORT THE COCAINE PIPELINE TO EUROPE Jeremy McDermott | James Bargent | Douwe den Held | Maria Fernanda Ramírez FEBRUARY 2021 THE COCAINE PIPELINE TO EUROPE THE COCAINE PIPELINE TO EUROPE ww February 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report has been jointly produced by InSight Crime and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized crime. The project was made possible by the generous funding of the government of Norway. © 2021 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Global Initiative. Cover: In 2019, Spanish police seized a semi-submersible that had crossed the Atlantic with three tonnes of cocaine on board. © Lalo R. Villar/AFP via Getty Images Design: Elisa Roldan, Ana Isabel Rico, Juan José Restrepo, Elné Potgieter Please direct inquiries to: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Avenue de France 23 Geneva, CH-1202 Switzerland www.globalinitiative.net CONTENTS Abbreviations and acronyms ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v Executive summary ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Trafficking to Europe ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3 -
The Collapse of Venezuela and Its Impact on the Region Dr
People look for food in garbage dumped outside a looted supermarket 21 April 2017 in the El Valle neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, after demonstrations against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. (Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt, Agence France-Presse) The Collapse of Venezuela and Its Impact on the Region Dr. R. Evan Ellis n May 2017, as the number killed during pro- the United States and the region asked, “How much tests against the regime of Nicolás Maduro in longer could it go on?”1 In addition to the crisis Venezuela climbed toward 40, and with more within Venezuela, the collapse of its economy and the Ithan 130 injured and over 1,300 arrests, many in escalating criminal and political violence have also 22 July-August 2017 MILITARY REVIEW COLLAPSE OF VENEZUELA produced a massive outflow of refugees to neighboring corruption and mismanagement in government enter- Colombia and Brazil, to the nearby Caribbean islands prises, have progressively eliminated the capacity of the of Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, and Curaçao, and Venezuelan economy to produce even the most basic to other locales throughout the region. In total, an goods required by the people of the country to survive. estimated 1.5 million of Venezuela’s 32 million people Additionally, declining petroleum output, high produc- have left the country since the government of Hugo tion costs, debt service obligations, an accumulation Chávez came to power in 1999.2 Venezuela’s neighbors of adverse legal judgments from past expropriations, watch the unfolding drama not -
Mercenary Operations Against Venezuela: the Evolution of a Failed Military Threat
INVESTIGATION. ANALYSIS. W. MISIONVERDAD.COM STRATEGY. COMMUNICATION. T. @MISION_VERDAD MERCENARY OPERATIONS AGAINST VENEZUELA: THE EVOLUTION OF A FAILED MILITARY THREAT. SPECIAL REPORT. CARACAS. 15/05/2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE CONTENT CAN BE USED CITING AUTHORSHIP. SPECIAL REPORT. VENEZUELA 2020. COBERTURA ESPECIAL. COVID-19 Soldiers from Venezuela’s Armed Forces guard the coast of La Guaira state after neutralizing a vessel with mercenaries coming from Colombia. (Photo: Courtesy). VENEZUELA has recently been subject of a number of attempts of mercenary penetration in the country. According to research conducted by authorities of the Venezuelan National Government several armed cells made up by mercenaries and Venezuelan and foreign former militaries have intended to gather in Venezuelan territory in order to organise and perpetrate1 terrorist actions, including attempts on the lives of State authorities and chavismo leaders and, in turn, coordinate sedition among the FANB (Spanish acronym for National Bolivarian Armed Force). The so-called Operation Gedeon, in fact, results from other developments and critical causes that have threatened the peace of the Republic. This operation is the consequence of an evolution that drives the development of war in the country and a planned prolonged instability cycle. 2 MERCENARY OPERATIONS AGAINST VENEZUELA. SPECIAL REPORT. VENEZUELA 2020. MOMENTUM OF A NEW TYPE OF TERRORISM IN VENEZUELA On June 27, 2017, an officer of the CICPC (Spanish acronym of the Venezu- elan Scientific and Criminal Police Corps) named Óscar Pérez2, along with other fellow officers of a command unit of such security corps, hijacked a CICPC helicopter and perpetrated an attack with grenades against the head- quarters of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela in Caracas. -
Latin America and the Caribbean: U.S. Policy and Issues in the 116Th Congress
Latin America and the Caribbean: U.S. Policy and Issues in the 116th Congress Updated September 3, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46258 SUMMARY R46258 Latin America and the Caribbean: U.S. Policy September 3, 2020 and Issues in the 116th Congress Mark P. Sullivan, The United States maintains strong linkages with neighboring Latin America and the Caribbean Coordinator based on geographic proximity and diverse U.S. interests, including economic, political, and Specialist in Latin security concerns. The United States is a major trading partner and source of foreign investment American Affairs for many countries in the region, with free-trade agreements enhancing economic linkages with 11 countries. The region is a large source of U.S. immigration, both legal and illegal; proximity June S. Beittel and economic and security conditions are major factors driving migration. Curbing the flow of Analyst in Latin American illicit drugs has been a key component of U.S. relations with the region for more than four Affairs decades and currently involves close security cooperation with Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. U.S. support for democracy and human rights in the region has been long-standing, with current focus on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Overall, although the region has made Peter J. Meyer significant advances over the past four decades in terms of both political and economic Specialist in Latin development, notable challenges remain and some countries have experienced major setbacks, American Affairs most prominently Venezuela. Most significantly in 2020, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having widespread economic, social, and political effects in the region Clare Ribando Seelke and is currently surging in infections and deaths in some countries. -
Illegal Trade of Narcotics
Committee: HRC Topic: Illegal trade of Narcotics [1] Committee: Human Rights Council Issue: Illegal trade of Narcotics Written by: Jonah Kramer Position: Member of the board of directors Introduction Illegal Trade of Narcotics otherwise known as Drug trafficking is the trade of drugs both inside a given country and from country to country. Illegal narcotics trade occurs on a global black market with substances that are under drug prohibition laws. It also happens transnationally between individual buyers and sellers to meet demand. UNODC(United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) monitors drug flows in order to help governments’ police forces combat narcotics entering or being produced in their countries. Drugs that are considered high risk to UNODC include Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana, Fentanyl, Ub770, Carfentanil, Crack Cocaine, Methamphetamine, LSD and MDMA/Ecstasy. Recent drug abuse and trafficking news include the likes of the opioid crisis in the USA, where drugs like Fentanyl, Heroin and Carfentanil are causing the large proportion of deaths. According to the global drug survey, the most expensive drug is Cocaine and the most commonly used drug is Marijuana. [2] Key terms Illegal Narcotic An illegal narcotic constitutes a substance taken by humans to change the way the brain works. An illegal narcotic is one widely recognised to be illegal in the majority of countries in the UN. Trafficking The transportation of Illegal Narcotics across international borders or nationally. Trafficking is usually done by smugglers and in mass quantities. Traffickers are constantly tracked by the UNODC. UNODC The UNODC is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, who work with governments’ national police forces in order to try and tackle drug trafficking.