Eladio Aponte Aponte made his career in the military justice system which like military music is not what it is supposed to be. From there, when Chavez needed safe folks in his packing of the judicial system a few years ago, he jumped into the presidency of the penal chamber of the high court, TSJ. Once in place obligingly he made sure that many political opponents would find their rightly undeserved punishment.
So far so good, you may say, par for the regime. But that was not enough for the man. When Makled, noted narco-businessman of the regime, was finally caught in Colombia we learned among other things that Aponte had issued him security and clearance badges even though by then the unsavory relationships of Makled were more than rumored. Translation: Aponte was into just more than punishing opposition folks, he was into the narcobusiness. I suppose that the regime thought that sending to the public opinion scaffold Aponte would be a token big enough to pacify international agencies fighting drug trafficking. After all, many figures of the regime have opted for the well rewarded silence, or even light jail with silence. Amen of an easy embassy job in a far, far away galaxy. Aponte was disbarred a few weeks ago and did not even take the chance to go to the National Assembly to defend himself (the National Assembly in Venezuela names and removes justices under certain conditions).
Today we have learned that he not only has left the country, but that he is in talks with the FBI et al. Times are changing my friends, and self-immolation for the micomandantepresidente is becoming a "how many of them I can take down with me".
He apparently also has evidence of bank accounts opened by a broker for most of the Boliburgesas & which the FBI & DEA are reviewing.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that we here in Venezuela will never have access to this information. Just like Makled - lots of rumours but no meat. Let's make the documents public.
If the DEA and FBI are involved and Aponte's singing pleases their ears, the result will be arrest warrants on Interpol. So, yeah, we'll hear about it, and the documents (at least those in the warrant) will be public.
DeleteI heard that all the trouble Chavez went through to get Makled extradited to Venezuela was for nothing now. This guys knows just as much or more than Makled and the fact that he was a judge probably gives him more credibility. We will see.....call the exterminator because the rats are coming home to nest!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, that assumes he was a real judge....
DeleteWell said :)
DeleteWow, this is big - negotiating political exile in exchange for information is the sign of someone who decided the light at the end of the tunnel really was an oncoming train.
ReplyDelete"military justice system which like military music is not what it is supposed to be" :D Granted, one does more damage than the other, but they are both very difficult to endure.
Yep, another ones of my americana quotes you like so much :) . I think, anyway, because I cannot remember who said that about military music, if Bernard Shaw or Mark Twain on the Sousa music or something of the like.
DeleteDaniel, Isn't it?:
Delete"Military justice is to justice what military music is to music." -- Groucho Marx
Atta' girl!
DeleteOh, but that quote takes on a whole new meaning in Latin America. U.S. military bands can actually play. I've heard more than one recorded version of a South American national anthem - a recording should, in theory, be better than a live performance - that were so off-key, they were worse than what my junior high school band could have done. Perhaps even while sight reading.
DeleteJSB
ReplyDeleteWhen I erased the tamil cinema i also erased your comment. sorry! all in the name of spam fighting!
You're doing great, Daniel. Appreciate all the info you post. --s
DeleteDaniel, I recalled the quote "Military justice is to justice what military music is to music" as coming not from one of my paisans, but from one of yours: Georges Clemenceau. Googling quotes military music clemenceau appears to confirm my suspicion.
ReplyDeleteWhile one can find support on the Internet for Groucho Marx having originated it, my call is that Groucho merely repeated what Georges Clemenceau had originally stated.Clemenceau was born a half century before Groucho, which would support Groucho quoting Clemenceau rather than vice versa. Unless Groucho was as much an infant prodigy as he was an adult prodigy. :)
Which also goes to support the assertion that Groucho Marx, for all his lack of formal education, was very well read.
Foreign Policy has an article which ties into this thread: After Chávez, the Narcostate. It points out that the post-Chavez Narcostate will be very dependent on support from China, Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. One way for the US to neutralize this is to expose the Narcostate ties- which your article discusses.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMore SPAM!!
DeleteMonster beats Lover FTW!!!!
DeleteYep! Spammers are getting more agressive lately!!!!
Delete