Here’s a good one from the Rio Times. They tell us that Igor Krilov, Chief of Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces says Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer in 2013, was poisoned with a carcinogenic substance which originated in the US and was allegedly produced there in “violation of international law” according to Venezuelan authorities.

 They implicated Chavez’s former nurse (and treasurer) Claudia Diaz, who they say left Venezuela and was transferred to the US to prevent details of her cooperation with US intelligence agencies from becoming known. I guess she really wasn’t extradited (along with her husband) to face money laundering charges.

 These Chavistas are really something. When Hugo Chavez was alive he constantly claimed the CIA, the Colombia government, right-wing paramilitaries, US imperialists, and colonialist oligarchs at the behest of the US were trying to kill him, which is a tactic employed by Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded Chavez, as well. I stopped counting the Maduro “assassination attempts” at 30, for which he claimed he had proof every time (and never did except for the two exploding drones attack which was on live TV). Now, 9 years after the fact, we have the CIA responsible for Hugo Chavez’s death (he was treated for his cancer under secrecy in Cuba)…and don’t forget, there were suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Simon Bolivar 250 years ago. I know the US was in it’s infancy then but maybe they just got off to a fast start…

 Then we have an interesting piece from Sarawak Report. There seems to be no end to the number of Venezuelans involved in bribery (and money laundering) around the world. They report that a fugitive Venezuelan banker, Julio Herrera-Velutini, has been charged with bribing the former Governor of Puerto Rico, who has been herself arrested, according to a filing by the US-DOJ (United States – Department Of Justice).

 Herrera-Velutini, who fled Venezuela in 2009 amidst accusations of financial fraud, is also alleged to have donated $605,500 to politicians in the UK, a violation of British law which prohibits foreign donors.

 It is alleged that Puerto Rico Governor, Wanda Vazquez Garced, secretly pledged to remove the head of OCIF (Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions), the regulator that was investigating Bancredito (Herrera-Velutini is the chairman and principal shareholder) over serious anti-money laundering irregularities, in return for funding support for her election campaign.

 At the heart of this is the “international consulting firm” CT Global who was paid over $300,000 to provide polling and election advisory services, the bulk of which are the same services offered to the Puerto Rico Governor. CT Global says they did work for Mr. Herrera-Velutini but deny working for the Governor. This appears to be untrue as there was a planned presentation meeting between CT Group and the Governor and there is a damning text from Herrera-Velutini to one of Vazquez’s assistants complaining that the head of OCIF had not been sacked and it had to happen beforehand.

 The Governor of Puerto Rico has the authority for appointment and removal of the head of OCIF but to do so for secret personal gain and to obstruct an investigation would be a criminal abuse of power. After the text, the Governor’s Chief of Staff summoned the head of OCIF to the Governor’s Residence where he was told he had to resign his position by February 28th, the day of the planned meeting with CT Group. Then, just hours before the meeting , an assistant to the Governor forwarded a screenshot of the resignation letter to one of Herrera-Velutini’s assistants with a confirmation of the meeting, “See you at 6 PM”. After the meeting, Herrera-Velutini’s man, Rossini, was involved in recommending his replacement.

The article went on with many details of the evidence against Herrera-Velutini and the Puerto Rico Governor in the Puerto Rico case and now a lot of questions are being raised regarding why the Tory Party in the UK accepted funds from a tainted Venezuelan through Britannia Financial Group.

 And we have Data Breach Today with a piece on “Doctor Ransomware”… remember him? He’s the Venezuela cardiologist, Moises Zagala, who is charged in Federal Court in New York with developing ransomware applications that infected organizations and companies around the world. As previously reported, there were numerous hackers that purchased the ransomware used to infect computers… well… everywhere. His defense, according to his wife, is his email accounts were hacked a few years ago and they, along with his identity, were used to scam. Sounds kinda’ like the ever popular “Some other dude did it” defense.

 Then we have a piece by Grist telling us that a new study by Environmental Research Letters is raising concerns over deforestation. Here at TFT we are calling “Guilty Of Omission!” Their example of a threat to the Amazon was illegal cattle ranching. Are you kidding me!! Maduro’s “Mining Arc” (never mentioned in the article) in the Amazon basin is responsible for thousands of acres of deforestation, mercury poisoning of rivers, and destruction of an entire way of life for the indigenous peoples of the region. I’ll ask the question AGAIN, Why does everyone turn a blind eye to Nicolas Maduro’s “Mining Arc”? It is a true environmental tragedy and we contend it’s far more serious than illegal cattle ranching.

 And we have a piece from Rio Times that shows us that the Maduro regime is officially out of control with these agreements they’re always touting. (Remember the 20 agreements from Nicolas Maduro’s “world tour”?) Now we have the Venezuela Foreign Minister announcing the “First Mixed Commission” (I’m not exactly sure what a “Mixed Commission” is) by Venezuela and Nigeria to promote South – South cooperation (I’m not sure what that is either) and also informed us that 21 bilateral agreements are currently under negotiation. So…we are announcing a prelude to the preliminary discussion of another round of meaningless “historic, strategic agreements”….Really?…The UN, with all their meetings about when and where to have the next meeting, has nothing on these guys.

 Then we have the OAS (Organization of American States) and the IOM (International Organization for Migration) holding the first Regional Forum of Women Leaders of the Venezuela Diaspora in Panama City. I’m not a big fan of these things but anything that draws attention to the Venezuela migrant crisis (6.4 million and counting) is a good thing.

 More tomorrow….