Blog

Fallout

Richard Barnes

By now the actions of the Maduro regime belie both their denials of a rescue as well as their assertions that the 5 political hostages in the Argentine embassy had been released pursuant to negotiations between Venezuela and the United States. 

By their deeds — which clearly speak louder than words — the regime reflects the actions of an angry, abusive, and rabid suitor whose advances have been rebuffed. They certainly are not congruent with the results of a “negotiated settlement” but rather those of a utterly outwitted, losing party.

Although the rescue was made known to the world on Tuesday, May 6, it appears to have taken place (or become known to the regime) at least a day earlier (or more). On Monday night, May 5, Rafael Antonio Torres, professor and also political secretary of one of the allied opposition parties, was seen being violently removed from his house and beaten before being forced into a government vehicle. His whereabouts are unknown.

Again, this particular arrest took place on Monday night, the 5th of May, before the world knew anything about the rescue; however, the government functionaries and enforcers obviously did.

But Tuesday, the 6th, marked the furious escalation by the Maduro crime syndicate. In Carabobo, his associates detained journalist Mario Chávez Cohen as well as his mother. Although she was released several hours later, he remains as one of the disappeared.

Also on the 6th, Magallí Meda, one of the 5 who was extracted from the embassy, denounced on X the breaking and entering of her mother’s home in Caracas. She wrote, “At this hour, agents of the regime are violating the doors of my mother’s house…. I condemn this new crime and ask for your support for the protection of my family….”

On Saturday, May 10, the home of Humberto Villalobos, one of the five, was also broken into by hooded, masked, booted, and heavily armed officials. 

These actions have been captured by security or other cameras and images and clips have been published throughout the country.

Coincidentally, on May 1, Human Rights Watch published a detailed report on political detentions and disappearances in Venezuela, noting that the majority of the documented abuses occurred after the fraudulent elections last July. The report also excruciatingly details the deaths of 9 young people, a few of whom had nothing to do with protesting the elections.

Truly we are witnessing the actions of a criminal enterprise. 

In addition to individuals and their families, entire groups or voluntary organizations have been threatened and acted upon. Spokesmen for The Committee For the Liberty of Our Political Prisoners, one of the associations formed to denounce what has befallen family members has denounced threats against them. However, they affirm their determination to continue to bring to light the loss or disappearances of their loved ones.

In sum, diverse areas of the country have been reporting the disappearances or detentions of political leaders or social activists, including family members in some cases. These include journalists, professors, medical doctors, in addition to unremitting pressure on organizations not deemed friendly to Maduro.

So, given all this activity, I now have to believe this indeed did catch the dictatorship off guard. Very off guard. Not only that, they must be thinking that if these well-guarded, high visibility persons were successfully extracted from what was perhaps the most heavily guarded site in Venezuela (apart from Maduro’s residence), then could there be a Noriega moment in someone’s future?

María Machado certainly is rejoicing along with many in the country, despite the increased repression: “The most surprised of all, and I can guarantee this, are [the regime]. This is an enormous victory, and it moves me deeply because I believe that every Venezuelan feels it like a personal victory.” She was visibly moved as she said this.

“[Operation Macaw] was distinguished by its precision and complexity; it was executed to perfection.” She would say no more in order to protect all involved. 

“There is a plan, a very complex and integral operation, to advance the weakening of what is left of support for this regime,” she said, referring to the international cooperation necessary for the success of Operation Macaw.

She went on to express her gratitude: “With a certainty, Venezuela will soon be free, and after hours of tireless effort, we can announce that, in the framework of a rescue operation coordinated with the governments of the United States and other democratic allies, our colleagues … are now safe and sound on United States soil,” she went on to say.

“We extend a special acknowledgement to the administration of President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as well as to the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, for their unbreakable support in these crucial hours. Their leadership has been a beacon of hope for our colleagues and for the entire Venezuelan nation who yearns for justice and dignity.”

Government enforcers entering the property of Magallí Meda’s mother (Tuesday, May 6, the day after the rescue)

Inside the house of Magallí Meda’s mother (Tuesday, May 6; the day after the rescue)

I have pasted only 4 photographs below. I do so to remind us that we are talking about real flesh and blood people like you and me. These are brave individuals who have not been accused of violence à la 2020 riots in the United States or the violent protests in more recent years. 

These folk oppose the dictatorial regime and have sought to do so by constitutional means. But we must always remember: those for whom the state is God, will not tolerate blasphemy against it. Therefore opposition to the state, or to the policies thereof, will pay a heavy price — up to their very lives.

Pray for Venezuela.

Attorney Merlina Carrero, among the many who have “disappeared” since the dramatic rescue.

Physiatrist Angel Lugo, among the disappeared.

Journalist, Mario Chávez Cohen, among the disappeared. His mother was also arrested and released hours later.

Rafael Antonio Torres, professor, was seen to be forcefully extracted from his home and “beaten violently” before being taken away. He is among the disappeared.

Note: For recent events I have found Infobae to be a reliable source and less tendentious than others. I do not vouch for them in general; however, for these recent days, they have been accurate.

About That Rescue

Richard Barnes

The Argentina embassy saga began months before the July, 2024 Venezuela elections. In a nutshell, the Venezuela state regime, headed by Nicolás Maduro, well aware of its deep unpopularity with the Venezuelan people, began arrests and disappearances, and issued arrest warrants against the key players of the united opposition who in turn sought asylum in the embassy. 

Arrests began with a frenzy, including Dignora Hernández, 56-year-old political secretary of an opposition party, violently taken from her home as she cried for help and roughly pushed by goons into a state vehicle. This was caught on video surreptitiously and went viral. She is still detained, 413 days later.

Six remaining opposition leaders sought asylum from Argentina, which was granted the same day as the aforementioned arrest, in March, 2024. From that embassy, surrounded by Venezuelan military and intelligence forces, which at times would cut off water and power and even food, these six were still able, not only to mobilize millions to vote in July, but also to get election monitors to access official vote tallies which demonstrated a landslide victory for the opposition.

Therefore, when the regime announced its “victory”, the evidence loudly belied it and various countries found themselves obligated to not recognize the regime or to “pretty please” ask them to publish the actual tallies. Such polite requests still await replies.

Massive multitudes protested after the farce of an election, but the state’s response was brutal. And effective. The opposition candidate, Edmundo González, fled to Spain, having been granted safe passage, loudly and with state-approved photos.

Parenthetically, it is important to remember that the opposition candidate was Corina Machado originally. However, the state declared her too popular inelegible and struck her off the ballot; she therefore convinced the 75-year-old González to run instead.

The months slipped by; the Venezuelan state broke diplomatic relations with Argentina whose personnel evacuated; Brazil “took charge” of the embassy, whatever that means; and the asylum seekers remained.

In December (2024), one of the six, Fernando Martínez, agreed to evacuate; eventually leaving the embassy in a Swiss diplomatic automobile. He died two months later.

Yesterday, after 412 days of captivity, the world learned that the remaining 5, along with Ms Machado’s infirm mother, had been “extracted” from Venezuela, ending the ordeal for them, but not for the stricken land.

As usual, the folks on the ground, in this case, local (Venezuela), independent sources, are perhaps more accurate, although we cannot be sure until more details are made available.

With that caveat, what we are hearing is that this was a USA operation, which took place while Maduro was in Moscow where he received a call at 3 AM, Moscow time. The message was, “Estados Unidos liberó a todos los que estaban en la embajada argentina. [The United States has freed all who were in the Argentina embassy].”

If that report is accurate, it certainly was not happy news for the strongman who is now no doubt intent on finding out who betrayed him. There will be scapegoats for sure and it won’t be pretty.

Few details are known, other than what a local said, “Fue de película [It was an action movie — rough translation].”

A word of caution, however. The apparatchiks are insisting that this was a negotiated release long in the works. Although I tend to discount such pronouncements, I am intrigued as to how such an operation could have taken place in the heart of Caracas, next to other embassies, including the Russian, and surrounded by Venezuelan security.

On the other hand, when Mr. González left the country for Spain, the state made it a great propaganda coup. Why not this “negotiated” action? 

Could it have been an “extraction” over time — one per week or day?

I hope I am wrong, but I believe this event caught the state by surprise, during the absence of the “duly elected president”, no less. If I am correct, then we will see retaliations which will make those which followed last July’s elections seem like child play.

So, again, I do hope I am wrong.

Meanwhile, Ms Machado, although very happy for the successful extraction, is still in hiding in Venezuela. 

And inflation is in triple digits.

Pray for Venezuela.

Edmundo González, photo published in local media upon his having been granted safe passage to Spain where he sought asylum in September, 2024. This event was widely published by the state.

The five hostages: Magalli Meda, Claudia Macero, Pedro Urruchurtu, Humberto Villalobos, and Omar González

The original six. Fernando Martínez, bottom row, center, evacuated the embassy in December and died two months later.

Bands of Robbers

Richard Barnes

“Without justice what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers? And what is a band of robbers but such a kingdom in miniature? It is a band of men under the rule of a leader, bound together by a pact of friendship, and their booty is divided among them by an agreed rule. Such a blot on society, if it grows, assumes for itself the proud name of kingdom.” — St. Augustine

Before the inauguration of the Caruachi Dam across the Caroní River in the first decade of this century, the river was traversed by ferry (chalana). As a child, I preferred taking that particular ferry to the ferries operating in what became Ciudad Guayana.

I suppose my preference was due to the seemingly wilder or less tamed nature of the area around Caruachi — no towns or cities in the vicinity and the fishing and wildlife were more surprising at times.

Regardless, the Caruachi dam (which I never witnessed) changed all that.

The last time I saw and used the ferry was in 1987. Several of us were in Venezuela on an audit assignment and took our free day to visit the area around the confluence of the Orinoco and Caroní Rivers.

The milieu was very different from that of my childhood: a number of the men who crossed with us looked rough, even ruffian-like. I attempted to strike up a conversation with two or three but it was hard going. One of them did pull his hand from his pocket and opened it for me to see a gold nugget. I asked permission to take a photo and he quickly declined, which I of course honored.

He went on to tell me about the mining in the Bolivar/Amazon areas, which is where he and a number of the other men on the ferry were coming from. He said the area was quite wild and somewhat lawless. 

I asked if any of them would mind if I took a photo. Three of them agreed but only if I did not use their names. 

That incident was a foreshadowing of what was to become of that untamed jungle and river area of at least 35,000 square miles, now known as the “Orinoco Mining Arc”, which encompasses large swathes of the state of Bolívar, where I was born, as well as of the vast states of Amazonas and Delta Amacuro. This area contains bauxite (used for aluminum), coltan (used in the production of electronic devices), diamonds, and, of course, especially gold.

However, in a lawless country as Venezuela has become, any “designated” area is actually limitless. So, unsurprisingly, this “arc” has invaded the Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Elsewhere in this blog I’ve noted Transparency International’s ranking of Venezuela as the most corrupt country in the America’s — yes, more corrupt than Cuba or Haiti, as incredible as that seems — with extensive ties to global criminal syndicates which exploit the mining area and the indigenous peoples who are unlucky enough to not have escaped before their enslavement.

(It is always a wonder to consider that those who hate Columbus and accuse him of murder, torture, and enslavement seem oblivious to how they project onto the great seaman what their own fellow travelers are actually doing now. It’s much easier to indict and delegitimize our founding than to see that the abandonment of our founding has led to the atrocities they so piously and hypocritically decry….)

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the arc is a giant hub for illegal mining, “where armed non-state actors and local gangs compete for control of key mining operations. The Maduro regime has used state enterprises and security forces to legitimize otherwise criminal mineral extraction, collaborating with criminal groups to mine, process, and transport minerals.”

In exchange for what? 

Well, the state-owned enterprises operating there serve to source the minerals extracted illicitly and, ¡Voilà! the minerals are then exported “officially”, thereby, legitimately. The bulk of these exports are to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, according to CSIS. The state does not do this for free, of course. It carves its  handsome cut from every transaction.

However, that maneuver accounts for a fraction of Venezuela’s gold exports. The vast majority is shipped from the country as contraband and later “officialized” into the global market, with the State — both the top bureaucrats as well as the military leadership — receiving a major bite from the gargantuan profits. These profits are in addition to other fraudulent enterprises such as multiple military check points, each demanding bribes or multiple fuel depots supplying needed fuel to the illicit mines, also at large profits.

To give the reader an idea of the immense amounts of money involved, some top army generals are receiving gold in the equivalent of $800,000 per month in bribes. 

But wait! There’s more! Clandestine flights carrying gold are given safe passage, for another nice cut; the state has given ownership of individual mines to many of the country’s state governors and other political leaders to ensure their loyalty; ad nauseam. 

This post is already too long, so I’ll skip over the very real environmental devastation, including mercury poisoning in the rivers whereby fish taken to market as far away as Colombia are contaminated and causing serious harm to the health of regular folks.

We do not know how many laborers are involved in the illegal mining operations, but I’ve seen some estimates as high as 500,000. About half are children; most are from local indigenous villages and practically all are coerced. They work under threat of punishment by armed groups and gangs. Men and boys are subjected to atrocities by violent, pitiless mine owners who know they are “protected” against any and all actions they might take. 

We have eye witness reports of arms and hands being mutilated or amputated; forced prostitution; murders. Per CSIS, “Dozens of massacres have been reported in Bolivar state as well as reports of mass graves in the area.” In addition, the sex trafficking of young children is heartrending; venereal diseases have spiked; disappearances are common. 

And, yes, one of the most powerful crime syndicates ruling in the Orinoco Mining Arc is the Aragua Train, better known as Tren de Aragua. As a criminal enterprise, they not only ruthlessly run mines, they also establish pricing and rations for daily goods and groceries and woe be to him who disobeys or seeks to supply himself independently. Americans need to wake up to the reality that Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan state are an allied enterprise. And neither of them messes around. 

St. Augustine in his The City of God wrote that a people that denies or refuses to be governed by God’s law (justice) will become ruled by “bands of robbers”. The history of the 20th Century with its totalitarian regimes, including Communist dictatorships resulting in 100,000,000 deaths by the state (see The Black Book of Communism) amply justifies Augustine’s affirmation. Not only do “bands of robbers” run rampant through the land, the state itself acts hand in glove with national and international crime syndicates all of whom share the common goal of personal empowerment and enrichment and grotesque pleasures at the cost of the lives and well being of their own peoples.

And before we get too smug, be gently reminded that we have legislators who have become very wealthy while in office. Few are they who, like many of our Founders, actually became poorer when they entered public service. As we ourselves have cast God’s precepts aside, we too are facing the increasing rule by bands of robbers. 

And it is not a pretty picture.

FYI: Claritas, a major mining area, is controlled by Tren de Aragua. Guasipati (not noted) and others are as well. The value of gold extraction in some mines, including Claritas, exceeds $1,000,000 per day.

“Bali Ha’i” and “India Country Side”

Richard Barnes

Elsewhere in these posts I’ve mentioned that corporate work assignments in South America in the early to the mid-Twentieth Century often included generous annual home leaves. Although my father’s point of origin was Massachussets, we usually spent his leave in Miami, visiting family; however, every two years or so, my father would take us to New York City for a few days. He knew the city pretty well as he’d attend Yankee games during his high school years in Massachussets. 

On one of our visits, circa 1959, we were treated to a nice restaurant: one of those with violinists going from table to table playing diners’ requests. At our table, after Mother’s request had been honored, the violinist asked me for a favorite. I said, “Three Coins In A Fountain”!

The violinist was stunned and laughed loudly. He played it and then said, “I was not expecting that request at all!. I was expecting something like this!” 

He proceeded to play an energetic rendition of “Pop Goes The Weasel”, which I also enjoyed.

Then he asked my parents about our music listening habits and they told him some of the records we had at home besides children records: music by composers such as Beethoven and Bach as well as movie soundtracks, such as my request. They told him that my favorite soundtracks were South Pacific and Around the World In 80 Days.

That was true, but it would have been more accurate to have said that whenever I thought of those, I would think principally of “Bali Ha’i” from the first and “India Country Side” from the second.

In 1986 during an audit assignment overseas, the once-pretty-good 60 Minutes broadcast a piece wherein Diane Sawyer traveled with James Michener to the island of Espíritu Santo (New Hebrides Islands, now named Vanuatu, in the Pacific) where he, forty years before, had written Tales of the South Pacific. 

A little over halfway in the interview, Sawyer asked him whether his favorite tune was “You’ve Got To Be Taught” — a tune about Americans being prejudiced or racist. Typical question by a mainstream journalist which received an atypical reply: “Bali Ha’i”. I was not a fan of Michener’s politics. But I softened quite a bit towards him when he gave that answer. In that, we were united.

A few years later, in 1993, I was in Mexico City on business. After dinner on the night before my departure, I returned to my hotel room ready to hit the sack for a few hours before an early flight the next morning. But as I crossed the lobby, I saw that a television set was playing Around the World In 80 Days.

So, against my better judgment, I flipped on the set in my room and watched, looking for the scene where Cantinflas gazes out the window of his sleeper car as the soundtrack plays “India Country Side”. 

The next morning, in the taxi, the driver casually commented, “Bueno, se nos fue Cantinflas.” 

I had not listened to the news nor even glanced at newspaper headlines, so did not know that he had died the night before, as I watched the film that marked his American debut. To this day, I do not know whether the station knowingly broadcast that movie that night or whether it was done because they knew that Cantinflas was dying and actually passed away at 9:25.

When I think of El Pao, oftentimes several tunes invade my mind and heart. Among them, invariably, the music of “Bali Ha’i” and “India Country Side” are close to center stage. 

Diane Sawyer interviews James Michener in 1986

Cantinflas about to press against the window to marvel at the India Country Side, 1956 

Explosion and Fire in Carabobo (Venezuela) Hospital

Richard Barnes

George Orwell’s astonishingly prescient novel, 1984, describes a mechanism whereby events — whether historical or current — which are embarrassing to the regime are cast into the “memory hole” or are “memory holed”. 

When I first read the novel in my teen years, I immediately identified the memory hole with Pravda, the official news organ of the late Soviet Union Communist party. Years later, during the “Iran-Contra” hearings I was astonished to see live examples of real-time memory holing in our own country. I found myself in a location which was playing the hearings live, so I had a pretty good understanding of what happened in the hearings on that particular day. 

However, watching the news that very evening and then reading the news the following morning, I had the distinct feeling that the “reports” of that day’s hearings were either utterly dishonest or the reporter was at another hearing with no relation to the event labeled “Iran-Contra Hearing”. It was breathtaking.

And eye-opening. 

I recalled my father telling me about Walter Duranty, the New York Times reporter whose mendacious reporting about the glories of the Soviet Union won him a Pulitzer prize which to this day has not been revoked let alone denounced despite the knowledge that his reports were utter nonsense — to put it charitably. I had believed that Duranty was an exception. However, after Iran-Contra, I was not so sure.

Now, of course, such shenanigans are so commonplace we run the risk of shrugging them off without pausing to consider the danger such actions pose to us as a free people. 

In January of this year, an explosion and fire shook and damaged the pediatric area of a hospital in the city of Valencia, in the Venezuelan state of Carabobo. El Carabobeño, a local newspaper, carried a snippet on the event, noting that they had been unable to get an “official” explanation as to the cause and the extent of the damages, other than that there were no casualties and all affected patients had been successfully evacuated.

The Caracas Chronicles also carried a short article on the event, noting that it was not the fire brigade or any government agency that had contained and eventually extinguished the fire: “It was not the fire brigade; the catastrophe was averted by the doctors, the nurses, the janitors, and other employees.” 

The reporter — whose name is withheld — makes a serious observation:

There are many reasons this barely made the headlines, even within our own state. There weren’t any casualties and with so many crises in our country, it is impossible to keep up with them all. Power outages lasting several hours are still common in Carabobo. But we cannot ignore censorship as a key factor. As soon as we were discussing how to handle work the day after the fire, there was a consensus not to make any public statements. It is not like most health workers support the government; far from it. But they fear the consequences of speaking out. And I include myself in that. I’m only human.

I did a quick online search of this event and found nothing (apart from the sources noted above. In fact, in one AI-generated reply, I was told there was no report of such an event!

In effect, this episode has been memory holed.

Our liberties are precious, including our freedom to speak the truth as we see it. These liberties came under serious attack during the recent “plague” years when even respected doctors and physicians were silenced or mocked into oblivion. Common folks — laymen — who questioned the wisdom of coercive actions taken by local and federal agencies were threatened and even dismissed from their employments. Now even the former persecutors are acknowledging, however indirectly, that the objects of their virulence actually turned out to be right. But no apologies, much less sincere mea culpas have been forthcoming.

We must defend our liberties or we shall lose them.

One way to defend them is to support — however we may be able to — an organization or person who, with integrity has been speaking truth especially in these past 5 or so years. They have been doing a work for us all. And they have paid a price. Such people can be relatively easily identified.

I’ll close this post with one more quote from the above-mentioned reporter:

The same state that normalized Carabobo’s blackouts — very likely causing this fire — is the same state that fuels a climate of fear, making it nearly impossible to even talk about these problems, let alone solve them. I still remember a little girl with a fractured leg. She had a fever and had to be evacuated that night, with nurses administering medicine outside to keep it under control. She kept repeating, “Don’t make me go back to the hospital! I’m scared!” Because of the incompetence of the corrupt elite that rules us — people who will never set foot in a public hospital — Venezuela’s most vulnerable children are forced to endure trauma. And as if that were not enough, the fear of speaking out against the dictatorship has left people just like the hospital that night: in complete darkness.