A Rigged Election In Venezuela

A Bitter Aftertaste VENEZUELA At least 16 people died in protests following the contested election win of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while the opposition said their candidate won in a landslide, Reuters reported. The announcement of the election board on Monday, awarding the outgoing president a third term, triggered protests from both pro- and anti-Maduro camps in the capital, Caracas, and other cities. Law enforcement shot tear gas and rubber bullets at the angry crowds, while some protesters threw rocks and petrol bombs in return. Across the country, protesters knocked down statues of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s late socialist ruler who chose Maduro as his successor, noted the Telegraph. The election board said Maduro won the presidential vote with 51.2 percent of the votes, while the opposition’s candidate Edmundo González garnered 44.2 percent. But the opposition, considering the board to be a mouthpiece for Maduro, said their own assessment of partial tallies showed that González had won more than twice as many votes as the incumbent. The opposition’s claims were in line with pollsters’ predictions of a Maduro defeat ahead of the election. On Tuesday, protests spread to poor neighborhoods that had previously offered overwhelming support for Maduro. Throughout the capital, protesters chanted “Freedom! Freedom!” Maduro dismissed the protesters’ demands, saying that “they are trying to impose in Venezuela a coup d’état.” The election left the international community divided, with the United States and other Western powers as well as numerous South American countries expressing concerns over a lack of transparency and credibility, while China, Russia, and Mexico offered Maduro their congratulations. Meanwhile, Peru recalled its ambassador and ordered Venezuelan envoys to leave within 72 hours, in a show of disapproval over Maduro’s victory, Reuters reported. Share this story

Venezuela's Rigged Election

The Dangers of Doubt VENEZUELA Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia both claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, amid accusations of fraud and irregularities that analysts say are likely to set the stage for a high-stakes political standoff in Venezuela, CNN reported. With more than 80 percent of the votes counted, Maduro appeared to have secured in excess of 51 percent of the vote, while his rival won more than 44 percent, according to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE). Even so, leaders around the world cast doubt on the results, and supporters of both candidates are expected to escalate protests, Reuters reported. The results were announced despite the opposition’s claims of irregularities during the voting process and allegations of fraud. These included opposition witnesses being denied access to CNE headquarters and accusations that the electoral council was halting data being sent from local polling stations to their central location to prevent more votes from being processed. The CNE has previously faced criticism for bias in favor of Maduro, with Western officials accusing the government of manipulating the council to suppress Venezuela’s democratic prospects. The election was observed by a small mission from the US-based Carter Center, which admitted it lacked the capacity for comprehensive observation due to its limited size. Venezuela previously withdrew its invitation to allow observers from the European Union to monitor the vote. Meanwhile, opposition leader María Corina Machado claimed that their internal records showed González had received 70 percent of the vote compared with Maduro’s 30 percent. “We won, and everyone knows it,” she said during a news conference. The results were met with a mix of support and condemnation both domestically and abroad. In the capital Caracas, Maduro’s supporters celebrated outside the presidential residence, while opposition supporters expressed anger and greeted the announcement by banging pots, the Associated Press wrote. Dozens were arrested and at least one person was reported as killed in protests against the results in northwest Yaracuy state, Agence France-Presse reported. Other Latin American countries, such as Peru, Chile and Argentina, questioned the results, with 12 member states of the Organization of American States to discuss the election on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The United States and the EU also called for detailed vote counting and access to voting records to ensure transparency. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s allies – including China, Cuba, Russia and Bolivia – congratulated Maduro, who will mark his third consecutive term as the country’s president. Under Maduro, Venezuela’s oil-rich economy has cratered, resulting in unprecedented levels of poverty and shortages of basic goods, as well as forcing more than seven million Venezuelans to flee the country. The president has blamed foreign sanctions on his regime for the country’s woes, claiming that Venezuela has been a victim of an “economic war.” Amid fears of potential destabilization, the opposition called for supporters to remain calm and urged the government to refrain from stoking violence. Share this story

A Hard Fought Election In Venezuela

The Three-legged Stool VENEZUELA Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is running for reelection for a third term on July 28. His strategy includes appearing on the ballot 13 times as the endorsed candidate of different political parties. His main rival, Edmundo González Urrutia, meanwhile, appears only three times. These maneuvers are only the tip of the iceberg regarding Maduro’s election meddling, reported the New York Times. His government has also rejected candidates, arrested opposition organizers, developed confusing ballots to stymie challengers, and barred millions of expatriate Venezuelans critical of Maduro’s regime from voting. Venezuelan authorities, for example, recently arrested opposition leader María Corina Machado’s security chief on charges of violence against women, the Associated Press wrote. Machado said the allegations were bogus but illustrated the challenges she and her allies face. Machado won an informal primary to face Maduro in the election but officials banned her from running. Now she is campaigning for her hand-picked candidate, the former diplomat González. Despite his advantages, polls show that Maduro is 20 points behind González, reported Reuters, mostly because the autocratic socialist president’s handling of the economy has been atrocious. The South American country’s gross domestic product has shrunk by a third under Maduro and his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez, a left-wing hero who lifted millions of Venezuelans out of poverty but set the stage for economic sclerosis and political corruption, explained the Council on Foreign Relations. Today, more than 80 percent of the country’s population lives in poverty. The health system is crumbling. The oil industry, which is vital to its prosperity, is falling apart, too. Around 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country in search of jobs and liberty, noted the United Nations Refugee Agency. These expatriates are often among Maduro’s most outspoken critics. The Christian Science Monitor, for instance, interviewed María de los Ángeles León Núñez, who organized anti-Maduro activities ahead of the forthcoming vote for more than 100,000 of her compatriots who migrated to Mexico in recent years. Maduro, meanwhile, shows little signs of going down nicely. He and his ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, must win the election if voters do not want Venezuela to fall into “a bloodbath, into a fratricidal civil war,” he said at a campaign rally in the capital of Caracas recently, CNN reported. Financial markets are betting that González has at least a chance to win in an upset victory, Bloomberg wrote, though nobody doubts that the challenger faces an uphill battle against formidable odds. The pressure for change is building steadily, the newswire added, even as the world has seen this in Venezuela before.

Wayne Smith And His Declassified Legacy On Cuba

WAYNE S. SMITH, August 16, 1933 - June 28, 2024 His Declassified Legacy on Cuba Wayne Archive Posts Selection of Once Secret Documents Recording Wayne Smith’s Policy Advocacy of Normalized Relations with Cuba Declassified Record of Efforts to Improve U.S.-Cuba Ties Remains Relevant to Current Policy Debate and Deliberations Published: Jul 12, 2024 Briefing Book # 865 Edited by Peter Kornbluh and William M. LeoGrande For more information, contact: 202-994-7000 or peter.kornbluh@gmail.com Regions Cuba and Caribbean Project Cuba Back Channel to Cuba The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana William M. LeoGrande, Peter Kornbluh University of North Carolina Press back channel Spanish cover Diplomacia encubierta con Cuba. Historia de las negociaciones secretas entre Washington y La Habana LeoGrande, William M., y Peter Kornbluh FONDO DE CULTURA ECONÓMICA (FCE) Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba Edited by Peter Kornbluh Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: A National Security Archive Documents Reader Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: A National Security Archive Documents Reader by National Security Archive (Compiler), Laurence Chang (Editor), Peter Kornbluh (Editor) Washington, D.C. July 12, 2024 - “Cuba,” as former Foreign Service officer, Wayne S. Smith, was fond of observing, “seems to have the same effect on American administrations as the full moon has on werewolves.” As the leading proponent for a rational and productive U.S. policy toward the Cuban revolution, Smith devoted his career—in and out of government—to advancing the cause of dialogue, diplomacy and normalized relations between Washington and Havana. He lived to see many of his tireless efforts come to fruition when the Obama administration moved to restore official diplomatic relations, normalize travel, and expand commerce between 2014 and 2016. But those advances were mostly rescinded during the Trump era and have not been fully restored by President Biden. At the time of Smith’s death at age 91 on June 28, 2024, the cause that he championed—rapprochement between Washington and Havana—remains as critical as ever. As a tribute to Smith’s life and legacy, the National Security Archive today is posting a small selection of the hundreds of formerly secret cables, memoranda of conversation, options papers and reports he generated during his 25-year career as the State Department’s leading expert on Cuba. The selected documents represent the diplomacy and dedication that Smith brought to his foreign service career, as well as his advocacy for a common-sense approach to the controversial issue of Cuba policy. paragraph 11 Wayne Smith was one of the first U.S. officials to present an argument for incrementally lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Smith’s Cuba-related career was exceptional and unique. As a young diplomat, he was posted to Havana as the third secretary of the U.S. Embassy only months before the triumph of the Fidel Castro-led Cuban revolution. He was one of the last U.S. officials to close the Embassy doors and depart the island by ferry after the Eisenhower administration broke relations with Cuba on January 3, 1961. “When the break came,” Smith recalled, “we merely packed our bags, turned out the lights, and were ready to go.” Eighteen years later, Smith returned to help turn the lights back on as “Principal Officer” of the recently opened “Interests Section”—part of the Carter administration’s incremental and often halting efforts to restore diplomatic ties with Havana. In his capacity as director of the State Department’s Office of Cuban Affairs during the first two years of the Carter Administration, Smith pressed for significant U.S. gestures to advance the goal of normalized relations. In a comprehensive and witty options memorandum, “Possible Steps to Improve Relations with Cuba,” he recommended key economic, cultural, military and diplomatic steps to reset U.S. policy and move toward normalized relations. He was one of the first U.S. officials to push a plan to incrementally lift the trade embargo, starting with food and medicine. “Many consider the embargo on the sale of medicines unconscionable,” he wrote, “irrespective of the state of our bilateral relations.” The U.S. should also open the door to selected Cuban exports, especially seafood products—shrimp, lobster, and crabs—he argued, along with Cuba’s renowned tobacco products (of which Smith was a connoisseur). “Few, save U.S. cigar makers, would object to the importation of fine Cuban cigars,” he noted in his options memo. Culturally, Smith suggested, the U.S. should allow the American Ballet to perform in Cuba and organize a special baseball exhibition game in Havana. Given Cubans fanatical love of the sport, Smith argued, baseball diplomacy could provide “more bang for the buck” than any other aspect of normalized relations and “emphasize the affinities between our two countries in a way that serves our long term objectives,” pointing out that “the Soviet Union does not play baseball.” Smith was also one of the first officials to identify advantages for U.S. national interests in a Coast Guard collaboration with the Cuban navy on counternarcotics operations. “DEA is enthusiastic,” Smith reported. “Further, this strikes me as an initiative to which only the Mafia could object strongly.” As head of the U.S. Interests Section from mid 1979 to mid 1982, Smith navigated diplomatic discord between Washington and Havana on such divisive issues as Cuban support for the Sandinista revolution and other insurgencies in Central America, Cuba’s role in Africa, and the 1980 immigration crisis known as the Mariel boatlift. The change in administrations from Carter to Reagan generated significant tensions between the State Department and the Interests Section as Reagan officials deliberately misrepresented Cuba’s interest in negotiations on Central America and threatened Castro with military force if Cuba continued to support insurgent groups there. “And as for keeping the heat on,” he wrote to his superiors in an angry cable protesting their distortion of Cuba’s negotiating positions on Central America, “we have kept it on for more than 20 years to no avail. The Cubans have seen it all before and are no more likely to respond now than previously.” Smith was so disgusted with the mendacity of his own government that he turned down an ambassadorial appointment and retired, on principle, from his career as a foreign service officer. “We obviously proceed from totally incompatible perceptions of Cuban reality,” he cabled Washington. “There is clearly no possibility of reconciliation of my views and those put forward by the [State] Department. I have therefore advised through other channels the situation in which I believe that leaves us—or more correctly, leaves me.” Sixteen days later, on his 51th birthday, Smith tendered his resignation and ended his diplomatic career at the State Department. Smith holding photo of himself and Fidel As a diplomat, and after he left the State Department, Wayne Smith met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro numerous times. Leaving government liberated Smith to become the most prolific and prominent proponent of a rational U.S. policy toward Cuba. Working out of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and then the non-profit Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., as a senior fellow, Smith published his candid memoir, The Closest of Enemies: A Personal and Diplomatic History of the Castro Years, along with countless opinion articles, reports, policy pamphlets, newsletters and interviews for over 30 years, criticizing hostile U.S. policies for “reaching new heights of absurdity.” He traveled to Cuba innumerable times for meetings and conferences, including as part of the National Security Archive’s delegations to the 40th anniversary conferences with Fidel Castro on the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Wayne's C-SPAN appearance As a leading critic of hostile U.S. policies toward Cuba, Wayne Smith appeared in many televised interviews. He frequently labeled U.S. efforts to sanction and pressure Cuba as "absurd." For Smith, freedom to travel to Cuba was a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Over the years, he took creative and strategic action to challenge U.S. restrictions on travel, including engaging in open civil disobedience. In December 1994, he organized a delegation of academics to openly visit Cuba without the prerequisite license—with the intent of getting fined and fostering a legal case to challenge the restrictions. “We traveled to Cuba to defend the rights of North Americans to go where they want—to Ireland, Switzerland, it doesn’t matter where,” Smith declared at a press conference in the Miami airport terminal, after the group had been detained on the plane and interrogated on the hot tarmac by Treasury Department agents. “We are ready to be prosecuted; we would like to be prosecuted because that will permit us to bring this case to the Supreme Court and win,” he declared. Ten years later, as director of Johns Hopkins University’s Cuba Exchange Program, Smith created and chaired The Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel (ECDET) and then filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department to challenge new Bush administration restrictions on academic study abroad programs in Cuba. “This is a case concerning academic freedom,” the suit stated, “specifically the right of professors and students of higher education to, free from government interference, organize, teach, and attend their institutions’ courses conducted abroad.” The suit was eventually dismissed by the U.S. District Court, and ECDET’s appeals were also rejected. Wayne Smith’s penultimate visit to Cuba remains his most poignant. As part of Barack Obama’s and Raúl Castro’s December 17, 2014, agreement to normalize bilateral ties, formal diplomatic relations were restored in the summer of 2015. Accompanied by his daughter, Melinda, Smith attended the ceremony to officially reopen the U.S. Embassy—the same building that Smith had closed as a young attaché in January 1961. Walking with her father to the Embassy, Melinda Smith recalls all the Cubans in the streets reaching out to shake his hand, yelling out to him, “Gracias Smith. Gracias, gracias.” The raising of the American flag to re-inaugurate the Embassy represented “the pinnacle of his life’s work and he cried when it went up the pole,” Melinda remembered. “But the people’s recognition and gratitude for that work and personal sacrifice was what he most cherished and kept with him until the day he died.” THE DOCUMENTS doc1 ebb 865 Document 1 State Department, U.S. Embassy Havana, Cable, “Reaction of Castro Regime to Election of Senator Kennedy,” Confidential, December 13, 1960 Dec 13, 1960 Source Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) 1958–1960, CUBA, Volume VI This cable, drafted by a young Embassy attaché, Wayne Smith (but signed by the political affairs officer, Harvey R. Wellman), reports on Cuba’s reaction to the narrow election of Senator John F. Kennedy over Vice President Richard Nixon. Smith reports that the young Cuban revolutionary government of Fidel Castro expects the same “sterile imperialist policy” of the Eisenhower era to continue under Kennedy, and that “Yankee imperialism” will remain Cuba’s leading enemy. doc 2 ebb 865 Document 2 State Department, Options Memorandum, “Possible Steps to Improve Relations with Cuba,” Secret, c. August 30, 1978 Aug 1, 1978 Source National Security Archive DNSA collection, “Cuba and the U.S., 1959-2016” As “Cuba Desk Officer” in the State Department during the first two years of the Carter Administration, Wayne Smith pressed creative ideas for normalizing relations with Cuba. In this detailed memo, he recommended a number of economic, cultural, military and basic diplomatic steps to reset U.S. policy and move toward normalized relations. Among his suggestions were lifting the trade embargo on transfers of food and medicines to Cuba, as well as on certain Cuban exports to the United States—among them Cuban tobacco products (of which Smith was a connoisseur). “Few, save U.S. cigar makers, would object to the importation of fine Cuban cigars,” he noted in his options memo. He also suggested a Coast Guard collaboration with the Cubans on counternarcotics operations. “DEA is enthusiastic,” Smith reported. “Further, this strikes me as an initiative to which only the Mafia could object strongly.” doc 3 ebb 865 Document 3 State Department, Memcon, “U.S.-Cuban Relations,” Secret, December 2, 1977 Dec 2, 1977 Source Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, Vol. XXIII As head of the State Department’s Office of Cuban Affairs, Smith met with Cuban officials in Washington. This meeting, held at a Washington restaurant with the head of the recently created Cuban Interest Section, Ramon Sanchez-Parodi, focused on a key obstacle to moving forward with normalized relations—Cuba’s expanding military presence in Africa. During the meeting, Smith diplomatically presses Sanchez-Parodi on the need to reduce the number of Cuban troops in Africa. Smith notes that the Ford administration had initiated secret talks on improved relations only to see Cuba send troops to Angola. “The present Administration,” Smith states, “obviously would have reservations about going ahead with the process of normalization in the face of any build-up in Angola and perhaps a repetition in Ethiopia of the Angola pattern.” doc 4 ebb 865 Document 4 State Department, U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cable, “State of U.S.-Cuban Relations,” Secret, August 29, 1979 Aug 29, 1979 Source NARA By the time Wayne Smith assumed the role of Charge’ at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in mid 1979, the promise of a full rapprochement from the early months of the Carter administration had faded in the wake of political discord over Cuba’s military role in Africa, support for the Sandinista revolution, and the presence of Soviet personnel and MIG aircraft on the island. This summary of Smith’s meeting with a top aide to Fidel Castro reflects Smith’s diplomatic capabilities to assess and deflect Cuba’s more rhetorical positions toward the United States. In his conversation with Castro’s aide, Smith suggests that intemperate propaganda attacks on the United States “hardly enhanced prospects for normalization” of relations. But he advises the State Department that “the Cubans have written off any significant improvement in relations with the US for the foreseeable future” and “suggestions on our part that objectionable actions or rhetoric on theirs will impede normalization are likely to have little impact.” doc 5 ebb 865 Document 5 State Department, U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cable, “Approach to Cubans on Presence in Nicaragua,” Secret, August 13, 1979 Aug 13, 1979 Source NARA In the aftermath of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua in mid-July 1979, the Carter administration decided to send a demarche to Cuba, protesting Cuba’s military support for the successful insurgency. In this cable, Wayne Smith advises that he hopes to present the U.S. protest to Jose Viera, a top Cuban official. But he seeks clearer evidence to support reports of “massive” arms shipments to the Sandinistas. “It would be useful to have something new and specific to back up those earlier reports,” he cables. “Has Embassy Nicaragua seen large quantities of specific items I could refer to, such as Soviet rocket launchers, machine guns, etc.? Or does INR (Intelligence and Research) have something hard I could use in demarche?” Unsubstantiated U.S. charges of an escalating Cuban role in Nicaragua and other Central American countries continued to create discord between Havana and Washington for the next several years and became a point of extreme contention between Smith and Reagan administration officials in 1981-1982, leading to Smith’s resignation from the State Department. doc 6 ebb 865 Document 6 State Department, U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cable, “Castro Offers Good Offices,” Secret, November 18, 1979 Nov 18, 1979 Source NARA Wayne Smith met with Fidel Castro numerous times—in his capacity as head of the U.S. Interests Section, as well as on trips to Cuba after he resigned from the State Department. In this report on one of his early meetings, Smith cables Washington that Fidel Castro, as head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), has offered his “good offices” to quietly press Iranian leaders to release the U.S. Embassy personnel who have been taken hostage in Tehran. According to Castro, “Cuba wished to help defuse situation which had dangerous implications not only for Iran and US but for whole world.” Castro, according to the Smith report, advises that his efforts need to be extended with “utmost discretion” if they are going to have any chance of success. Apparently concerned that the Carter Administration might launch a military attack on Iran, Castro urged patience and said “he would use any influence he had with [the Iranians] to bring about release of hostages and defuse situation.” doc 7 ebb 865 Document 7 State Department, U.S. Interests Section, Havana, Cable [Transmitted to White House Situation Room], “Cuban Interest in Negotiations,” Secret, July 31, 1982 Jul 31, 1982 Source Ronald Reagan Presidential Library In this forcefully written cable protesting the Reagan State Department’s refusal to engage Cuba on the issue of Central America and misrepresentation of Cuba’s negotiating position, Wayne Smith openly criticizes the failure of a U.S. policy of hostility and pressure to advance U.S. interests. “And as for keeping the heat on,” he writes to his superiors, “we have kept it on for more than 20 years to no avail. The Cubans have seen it all before and are no more likely to respond now than previously.” Smith concludes the cable by advising his superiors that he has reached a breaking point with their approach to Cuba policy. “We obviously proceed from totally incompatible perceptions of Cuban reality,” he wrote in an oblique reference to his decision to resign. “There is clearly no possibility of reconciliation of my views and those put forward by the [State] Department. I have therefore advised through other channels the situation in which I believe that leaves us—or more correctly, leaves me.” Sixteen days later, on his 50th birthday, Smith tendered his resignation as head of the U.S. Interests Section and the State Department, ending his career as a U.S. government diplomat. doc 8 ebb 865 Document 8 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel (ECDET) v. U.S. Treasury Department, Case No. 1:06-CV-01215, Complaint, July 10, 2007 Jul 10, 2007 Source U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia On July 10, 2007, Wayne Smith became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department for curtailing academic exchange programs in Cuba as part of President George W. Bush’s new Cuba sanctions imposed during the 2004 electoral campaign. At the time, Smith was an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and director of the university’s Cuban Exchange Program. After the Treasury Department banned short-term academic exchange programs in 2004, Smith founded and chaired the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel (ECDET) to press for the restoration of flexible academic study programs in Cuba. The ECDET suit charged that the Bush administration’s “restrictions have abridged Plaintiff’s First Amendment Right to academic freedom and their Fifth Amendment liberty interest in educational travel.” As defined in the suit, “this is a case concerning academic freedom—specifically the right of professors and students of higher education to, free from government interference, organize, teach, and attend their institutions’ courses conducted abroad.” The suit was eventually dismissed by the District Court, and ECDET’s appeals were also rejected.

Bolsonaro Weaponized Brasil's Intelligence Agency

The Deeper State BRAZIL Brazil’s intelligence agency spied on members of the judiciary, lawmakers and journalists during the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro between 2019 and 2023, according to a federal police investigation, the Associated Press reported. According to documents released by Brazil’s supreme court, authorities issued five arrest warrants to dismantle a “criminal organization” that allegedly used systems within the agency – known by its Portuguese acronym ABIN – to illegally monitor public officials and disseminate fake news. Court records said the detained individuals ran a “parallel structure” within the ABIN to facilitate these operations, including efforts to interfere with police investigations targeting Bolsonaro’s sons. Some of the people who were spied on included Supreme Justice Alexandre de Moraes and journalists Mônica Bergamo and Vera Magalhães. The 187-page police report also includes incriminating WhatsApp conversations discussing threats against Justice Moraes. Brazil’s attorney general hinted that the infiltrated ABIN cell was part of a broader criminal organization targeting opponents and institutions. Bolsonaro’s name is mentioned five times in the records, but he is not formally accused of ordering the espionage. Even so, the police probe found “that the ABIN had been instrumentalized, with a clear institutional deviation from clandestine actions, to monitor people related to investigations involving family members” of Bolsonaro. The recent investigation sparked outrage among the victims of the alleged illegal spying, with Senator Alessandro Vieira describing the acts as “typical of dictatorial governments.” It also puts further pressure on the embattled former president, who is already facing a slew of charges. Last week, authorities indicted Bolsonaro for embezzlement and asset laundering over an illegal scheme to sell $1.2 million in jewelry and luxury gifts from foreign governments, the BBC wrote. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro also faces investigations into whether he incited rioters to storm government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023, after losing the 2022 presidential election. Despite expressing regret for the unrest, he denies responsibility and has called the cases against him politically motivated.

Brasil's Ex President Bolsonaro Indicted In Diamond Case

WORLD NEWS Brazilian police indict ex-President Bolsonaro in undeclared diamonds case, sources say BY MAURICIO SAVARESE AND GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Updated 5:19 PM PDT, July 4, 2024 Share SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police have indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association in connection with undeclared diamonds the far-right leader received from Saudi Arabia during his time in office, according to a source with knowledge of the accusations. A second source confirmed the indictment, although not for which specific crimes. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Brazil’s Supreme Court has yet to receive the police report with the indictment. Once it does, the country’s prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, will analyze the document and decide whether to file charges and force Bolsonaro to stand trial. This is Bolsonaro’s second indictment since leaving office, following another in May for allegedly falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination certificate. But this indictment dramatically raises the legal threats facing the divisive ex-leader that are applauded by his opponents but denounced as political persecution by his supporters. Image Former President Jair Bolsonaro addresses supporters during a rally in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File) ADVERTISEMENT Bolsonaro did not immediately comment, but he and his lawyers have previously denied any wrongdoing in both those cases, as well as other investigations into the former president. One is probing his possible involvement in inciting an uprising in capital Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023 that sought to oust his successor from power. RELATED COVERAGE Image Brazil’s Bolsonaro indicted for alleged money laundering for undeclared diamonds from Saudi Arabia Image The dizzying array of legal threats to Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro Image 2 more people charged with conspiring to bribe Minnesota juror with a bag of cash plead not guilty Last year, Federal Police accused Bolsonaro of attempting to sneak in diamond jewelry reportedly worth $3 million and selling two luxury watches. Police said in August that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia. Brazil requires its citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and, for any amount above that exemption, pay a tax equal to 50% of their value. The jewelry would have been exempt from tax had it been a gift from Saudi Arabia to Brazil, but not Bolsonaro’s to keep for himself. Rather, it would have been added to the presidential collection. ADVERTISEMENT The investigation showed that Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former aide-de-camp who allegedly falsified his COVID-19 records, in June 2022 sold a Rolex watch and a Patek Philippe watch to a store in the U.S for a total $68,000. They were gifted by Saudi Arabia’s government in 2019. Cid later signed a plea bargain with authorities and confirmed it all. Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son and a sitting senator, said on X after Thursday’s indictment that persecution against his father was “blatant and shameless.” In addition to Bolsonaro, police indicted 10 others, including Cid and two of his lawyers, Frederick Wassef and Fábio Wajngarten, according to one of the sources. Wassef said in a statement that he didn’t have access to the final report of the investigation, and decried selective leaks to the press of an investigation that is supposed to be proceeding under seal. “I am going through all of this solely for practicing law in defense of Jair Bolsonaro,” he wrote. ADVERTISEMENT On X, Wajngarten said police have found no evidence implicating him. “The Federal Police knows I did nothing related to what they are investigating, but they still want to punish me because I provide unwavering and permanent defense for former President Bolsonaro,” he said. Bolsonaro retains staunch allegiance among his political base, as shown by an outpouring of support in February, when an estimated 185,000 people clogged Sao Paulo’s main boulevard to protest what the former president calls political persecution. His critics, particularly members of his rival President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s political party, have cheered every advance of investigations and repeatedly called for his arrest. Psychologist Deborah Santos watched news of Bolsonaro’s indictment in a bakery in Sao Paulo’s up-market Vila Madalena neighborhood. “This is great, because it breaks a pattern. Bolsonaro supporters love to say how honest he is; everyone else is dishonest, but them,” said Santos, 52. “There you have it: the police think he steals diamonds. That should end any politician’s career.” ADVERTISEMENT The 69-year-old former army captain started his political career as a staunch advocate of Brazil’s military dictatorship, and was a lawmaker for nearly three decades. When he bid for the presidency for the first time, in 2018, he was widely dismissed as an outsider and too radically conservative. But he surprised analysts with a decisive victory, in no small part due to his self-portrayal as an upstanding citizen in the years following a sprawling corruption probe that ensnared hundreds of politicians and executives. Bolsonaro insulted adversaries since his earliest days in office while garnering critics with his divisive policies, attacks on the Supreme Court and efforts to undermine health restrictions during the pandemic. He lost his reelection bid in the closest finish since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985. ADVERTISEMENT Carlos Melo, a political science professor at the Insper University in Sao Paulo, believes Brazil’s Supreme Court and the justice overseeing several investigations targeting Bolsonaro, Alexandre de Moraes, will not risk sending the former president to prison or imposing other harsh measures with any haste. The objective, he said, is to avoid instigating supporters of the far-right leader and so make cases against him more politically sensitive to prosecute. “This is a year of mayoral elections. Moraes and his fellow justices know that prosecuting a former president who remains a popular man would be even tougher in a year like this,” Melo said. “This indictment is another piece of the puzzle. It gives one more problem to Bolsonaro. There will be more.” Last year, Brazil’s top electoral court ruled that Bolsonaro abused his presidential powers during his 2022 reelection bid, which rendered him ineligible for any elections until 2030. The case focused on a meeting during which Bolsonaro used government staffers, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to tell foreign ambassadors that the country’s electronic voting system was rigged. Bolsonaro is expected to meet Argentinian President Javier Milei this weekend at a conservative conference in Balneario Camboriu, in Brazil’s south. by Taboola Suggested For You

Venezuela Reopens Negotiations With the US

Wilting Olives VENEZUELA Venezuela will resume negotiations with the United States this week as part of an effort to reverse sanctions against the South American country, less than a month before a closely-watched presidential election in which he and his party face their toughest challenge in decades, the Associated Press reported. President Nicolas Maduro, who is running for a third term, announced that after two months of consideration, he accepted a US proposal to reestablish talks, which are set to begin Wednesday. The president wants Washington to lift crippling economic sanctions imposed over the past decade to topple him, adding that the dialogue is “urgent.” The Biden administration did not comment on the announcement. Previous negotiations with the US and the US-backed opposition coalition, the Unitary Platform, stalled following disputes over unfulfilled agreements and pre-election conditions. Talks were also held in Qatar, but the location for the latest round remains unclear. Maduro’s comments come as Venezuelans prepare to vote in presidential elections on July 28. Observers said polls pose a significant challenge to Maduro and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which has dominated the oil-rich nation in some form for nearly two decades. But the PSUV’s voter base has become disillusioned and divided after dealing with economic and political crises during Maduro’s 11-year presidency. Voters will have to pick between 10 candidates, including Maduro. Observers said Edmundo González Urrutia, who represents the Unitary Platform, is seen as the only contender with a real chance of defeating Maduro. Last year, Maduro agreed with the opposition to work toward improving conditions for a free and fair election. Following that agreement, the US granted sanction relief to Venezuela’s state-run oil, gas, and mining sectors. But Maduro reneged on some of his promises following the rising popularity of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. Venezuelan authorities blocked Machado and her substitute from running in the race, prompting the opposition to rally behind González. In response, the Biden administration reimposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in April, saying Maduro and his officials “have not fully met the commitments made under the electoral roadmap agreement.”

Ecuador: A Declaration Of War

A Declaration of War ECUADOR Ecuadoran prosecutors recently asked the South American country’s highest court to convict Carlos Angulo, the leader of the drug-trafficking Los Lobos gang, and his associate, Laura Castillo, of hiring hit men on motorcycles to kill presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last year. The assassination in the capital of Quito exposed how organized crime had gained power in Ecuador over the past few years, reported the Associated Press. Villavicencio was a former journalist who revealed government corruption and the links between politicians and gangs who work in the drug trade that moves through Ecuador’s Pacific coast ports to Mexico and Europe. It showed how the country has become enmeshed in a narcotics economy that also includes Colombia, Peru, the US, East European crime lords, and other producers, consumers, middlemen, and corrupt government officials – and let the country become battered and desperate. Daniel Noboa, who took office in November, was elected to turn things around. Soon after, in January, the crime lords directly challenged him. Then, hooded gunmen took over a live television show in Guayaquil, the country’s largest city, and held hostages on air, wrote NBC News. On live television, one of the masked gunmen addressed the nation directly in a monologue. “You cannot play with the mafia,” he said. A few days later, added the Evening Standard, Noboa declared a state of emergency after Adolfo Macias, or “Fito,” the leader of another gang, Los Choneros, escaped from prison. Noboa ordered the Ecuadoran army to “neutralize” 20 drug gangs. They immediately arrested 300 people and since then have brought some gang leaders to justice. Fito remains at large, however, and Noboa continues to deploy the military to match the deadliness of the gangs he faces, describing the fight as an “internal armed conflict.” The world is waiting to see who will prevail and the terrible consequences if Noboa fails. Experts are mixed in their opinions. Analyst James Bosworth at World Politics Review understood Noboa’s response – but warned that a more regional push was necessary to destroy the extended supply chains of illicit drugs that drive the violence. “Thee clashes among Ecuador’s various gangs that have fueled the country’s skyrocketing homicide rate appear to be related to the violent rivalry between Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, both of which back different Ecuadorian factions,” he wrote. Noboa has other problems to solve, too. The country’s economy is struggling. In April, the International Monetary Fund granted Ecuador a $4 billion economic rescue package as power shortages undermined production, wrote Agence France-Presse. Drug companies and health facilities have had to cut back as the economy has contracted, added Prensa Latina. Ecuador’s busy ports face issues besides drugs, too. They have become one of the biggest reception points for Chinese nationals seeking to enter the US illegally, for example, noted Voice of America. The new president has his work cut out for him. And he only has until May 2025 to get things done before a new election is held, one that will judge him harshly if he doesn’t make progress, said analysts. Still, so far so good. Voters gave him a resounding “yes” in a referendum in April when asked whether the government should tighten security and heighten its fight against the crime groups. “This gives him some vigor,” Andrea Endara, analyst and professor at Casa Grande University, told NPR. But “if the president does not begin to take actions to demonstrate that having voted ‘yes’ brings results to reduce insecurity, this support will quickly be diluted.”