Thursday, July 24, 2014

Another "Oh Dear!" moment: Hugo Carvajal is arrested in Aruba

UPDATED AGAIN. Scant reports yet, little official confirmation but it seems that indeed Hugo Carvajal has been arrested in Aruba while he was awaiting his diplomatic placet from Dutch authorities to become Venezuela's consul in Aruba. This, my friends, can be a turning moment!


Hugo Carvajal was military intelligence chief of Hugo Chavez for between 2004 and 2009. This was the period in which Chavez established his social dependency system and in which he made sure the Venezuelan army would become corrupt to the bones, compromised enough with crime that it could not easily turn against him again. Not surprisingly it was during that period that Venezuela became a full fledged narco state by becoming the main transit point for drugs, at a time where Uribe put a cramp in the FARC drug trafficking style. As a reward for his efforts the US of A placed him in its first short list of narco-criminals from Venezuela to be arrested at the first opportunity (along other celebrities like current Guarico governor, Rodriguez Chacin, nicely documented on video for his very friendly relationship with the Colombian FARC).

Now, if I were Carvajal, I would be careful about leaving the country; though admittedly my life could be in danger inside the country in case some of the drug deals I sponsored soured some. But the thugs that overlord Venezuela have quite a lot of chutzpah, thinking that if they can browbeat their way inside Venezuela, they can get away with it outside also, in particular in a little island that they think survives only out of Venezuelan tourism. Bad move. Aruba is still under the Netherlands security system and the Dutch are getting tired of Venezuela antics and blackmail (and some of its friends like, you know, Russia). Besides, Venezuelan tourism is not the best quality tourism for Aruba anyway: loud, vulgar and not anymore the big spenders they used to be. So Carvajal may or may not have been arrested last night (before his diplomatic immunity would kick in) and he may or may not have already been extradited to the US of A. These doubts are delightfully exposed in a papiamento post, that you can get if you read Spanish well enough.

If indeed Carvajal is sent to the US, beyond diplomatic implications that this will entail, the local consequences will be high. There are possibly dozens and dozens of chavista high officials with dossiers under investigation and the reality for them has suddenly changed. Never mind that if Carvajal is indeed sent to the US, he may add a lot to these dossiers.

Even if Carvajal avoids, for now, his fate in court under the pretense of his diplomatic passport, that only will mean that the intentional police departments will be bolder next time, and may directly kidnap such criminals as soon as they set foot outside of Venezuela. Tourist destination for Venezuelan corrupt and murderous officials will be limited to countries like Syria, Cuba or Russia, if they can make it without any stopover...

What will the bolivarian nomenklatura do? Seek a deal for forgiveness in exchange of surrendering power? Or lock themselves up inside fortress Venezuela? Definition time ahead, pré carré formation time.

PS: Alek Boyd, his usual speed benefiting us, just posted a summary of the descent of Venezuela into narco-state status. It is in Spanish, I hope he finds time to translate it.
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UPDATE

The Venezuelan government has confirmed the arrest of Carvajal through a strongly worded foreign ministry communique that threatens directly the Netherlands with sanctions if Carvajal is not released immediately. Nice touch! Just when The Netherlands are particularly upset with all of these goons....

SECOND UPDATE

Well, well...  The papiamento newspaper in Aruba confirms that Carvajal DID NOT have diplomatic immunity because he was not agreed yet by the Dutch. He was exercising his consul functions anyway but the placet was not coming because, we may assume, his vitae was not pleasing. I think that the Dutch delayed the placet in the vain hope that Carvajal would be withdrawn. But thugs do not take to hints like that. The Dutch got tired, and voila!

Why was Carvajal so stubbornly holding to his consul post in Aruba? Gossip emeritus Bocaranda tells us that when he was caught he carried 20,000 USD cash (what the hell is doing a consul with 20,000 cash? what could he possibly need that for? this is illegal in Venezuela), three passports with different identities (AGAIN, a consul?), something like 6 cel phones from three companies (I can understand, say, 3 since many Venezuelans do carry 1 cel from each company).

Two working hypotheses: Carvajal was dabbling in money laundering since Aruba is considered a fiscal paradise. The Dutch government got tired of the arrogance and caved in the US wises. Or he was actually sent there in a set trap from folks back in Venezuela. A third possibility is that he may have engineered that to pretend that he was arrested rather than escaped to US safety.

I think those people have become reckless and that Carvajal thought he could behave in Aruba as he pleased. So I am going for the trap set by people wanting to get rid of him inside Venezuela. The question then would become who? The last hypothesis can easily be verified: is all of Carvajal family out of Venezuela, out of reach?

20 comments:

  1. Boludo Tejano5:49 PM

    Trade Carvajal's freedom for LL's freedom?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be too easy. I bet there are a few within chavismo delighted to have Carvajal in an US jail!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous6:33 PM

    So a few questions pop up.

    1) If he was designated as Consul, but was awaiting the "placet", does he have diplomatic status?

    2) Even if he did have diplo status, does the fact that he has been designated a FARC supporter by the US trump the protection afforded by treaties?

    3) What if this was a disguised way to get him to the US without it appearing that he ran willingly into US arms?

    or

    4) What if this is the first of many major heavy duty rats to abandon ship and negotiate to incriminate others in exchange for a light sentence and keeping his ill gotten gains?

    It's definitely pop corn time!

    Roberto N

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charly7:11 PM

      Now some rumors favor 3)

      Delete
    2. Island Canuck8:13 PM

      According to Twitter he'll be flown to the USA this afternoon.
      I've been smiling all morning.
      Couldn't happen to a better person.

      Also in the news Raul Castro'so daughter was on the plane that crashed this morning.

      Delete
    3. Island Canuck8:56 PM

      Apparently the latest news is that she was not on the plane.

      Delete
  3. Ronaldo8:15 PM

    This is definitely a stressful time for Chavismo. Will Hugo Carvajal turn against the Venezuela government in exchange for a lighter sentence? Will cracks appear in Chavismo?

    It would be so sweet if Maduro carries out his threat to cut off oil supplies to the United States.

    I hope he is kept incommunicado so high-level Chavista's will have trouble sleeping for the foreseeable future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:30 PM

      Carvajal is a very interesting character. The question is does Carvajal have wife and children and where are they. It is of paramount importance to get Carvajal out of Aruba before a rescue or assasination mission can be performed. Carvajal is 54 doubt he will get out of prison alive. Whether he talks first depends on his family if he has kids...their safety. Carvajal is grandiose and delusional IMO and this should get interesting. There have been other arrests. http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4252811/feds-charge-former-high-ranking.html

      Delete
  4. Boludo Tejano9:56 PM

    Tourist destination for Venezuelan corrupt and murderous officials will be limited to countries like Syria, Cuba or Russia, if they can make it without any stopover...

    What will the bolivarian nomenklatura do? Seek a deal for forgiveness in exchange of surrendering power? Or lock themselves up inside fortress Venezuela? Definition time ahead, pré carré formation time.


    Set up Disney World in Russia. Could make a lot of money. Syria -too unsafe. Cuba- not until the bros die.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:59 PM

    Carvajal had ample warning to leave town when the Venezuelan government sided with Putin over MH17 but he did not heed. Not very bright.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:13 PM

    keep in mind that Carvajal is very likely a covert intelligence officer. There will be no leniency for this POS.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:15 PM

    Carvajal is a nobody. He thinks he's so great that we (USGOV) where going to cut a deal with him on his terms. That's when he hired US attorneys to do this. To me he looks like a juiced out monster.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous1:53 AM

    Venezuela a country my family loved has slipped since 1972 until 2014 to become a totalitarian dictatorship ,corrupt from top to bottom. Its people paralized with chavismo . No matter who the next leader is this country is destined to continue its path down hill to total chaos.I pray for the citizens who will continue to be murdered by the thousands annually

    ReplyDelete
  9. Daniel,
    Here is something else that happened almost at the same time than Carvajal was being detained.
    Benny Palmeri-Bacchi was detained at the Miami airport. See Miami Herald article:
    Feds charge former high-ranking Chavez aides with protecting drug traffickers
    http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/24/4252811/feds-charge-former-high-ranking.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9:27 AM

    Here's hoping he does sing like a canary. I like your theory of him using this as a covert way to hand himself in, but I doubt it's true. To me it seems that these folks are, as you say, brazen enough to think they can get away with their scams anywhere in the world- just like they do in Venezuela!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous4:23 PM

    Venezuela accuses the US, NATO
    of Malaysia Airlines jet crash ...

    Did Venezuelan Maduro offer condolences to the
    The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte?

    Venezuela's self-serving accusations explain why
    there's little sympathy from Aruba
    over this alleged thug. xp

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fred Pals Jul 23, 2014 8:10 AM PT 6 Comments Email Print
    Save

    July 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Netherlands, having its first national day of mourning in more than half a century, today witnessed the arrival of 40 coffins with bodies and remains of those who perished on flight MH17 on July 17. Ryan Chilcote reports on “Bottom Line.” (Source: Bloomberg)
    The Netherlands, having its first national day of mourning in more than half a century, today witnessed the arrival of 40 coffins with bodies and remains of those who perished on flight MH17 on July 17.

    King Willem Alexander, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte gathered with about 1,000 relatives of the 193 Dutch victims and foreign officials at Eindhoven airport where two military planes landed shortly before 4 p.m. After the landing, a soldier played ‘The Last Post’ before a minute of silence was observed. Flags on public buildings around the country are flying at half-mast for the day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Corruption in Vzla? That's nothing..

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous2:04 AM

    Too bad this is gonna wreck the whole economic system of which Aruba relies on. 30% of tourists are Venezuelan, and if it does become somewhat of a 'warzone' most tourists will disappear and not come back.

    I wonder if this is just another log to the fire which is causing water to boil over all over the world.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:27 AM

    Was about time, the whole Venezuelan tourism is only partially true. American and European tourists are the big spenders, having grown up in Venezuela before Chavez and lived a few years while he was president all I can say that Venezuela needs a change; getting rid of these parasites is step 1.

    ReplyDelete

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