The dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro would not be the first in the world to collapse as a result of internal disputes over the control of illicit money. In fact, we are witnessing that the confrontation between the mafias formed from the Miraflores area is becoming bloodier in the extent to which the possibility of Maduro being expelled from power seems close.
It is known that Maduro relies on a system far from any legal norm that works for him to circumvent sanctions and to guarantee control of money. There have been several people he trusts with whom he has carried out this operation, but fundamentally Alex Saab and the brothers Santiago and Ricardo Morón have been key. It was presumed that harmony reigned in that band of robbers. But it wasn’t like that.
When on June 13, 2020, anxiety took over the tenants of Miraflores because the Colombian businessman Alex Saab had been arrested in Cape Verde, Africa, the brothers Ricardo and Santiago Morón, front men of Nicolás Maduro Guerra, rubbed their hands. At that time, Saab’s dossier was quite substantial with crimes referring to his actions as Nicolás Maduro’s front man in different businesses supported by the voluminous fraud committed against the Venezuelan State.
Interpol followed in his footsteps; He had in his hands the circular that identified him as wanted for supplying overpriced food and provisions intended for the most needy classes. He was also accused of laundering $350 million through the exchange system.
Saab’s adventures had been operating behind the scenes for a while, but after the sanctions applied by the United States to the Venezuelan State, he became a powerful man managing the interests of the presidential family. Maduro, dependent on him, did not hide his desire, first to avoid the extradition of Saab to the United States – which he did not achieve because he was deposited in Miami in October 2021 – and then for his release, which he obtained on Wednesday, December 20. last year in exchange for handing over to the Americans 10 of their nationals detained for different crimes, but who had actually been retained as exchange pieces.
Saab’s return to the country was in style. The Colombian returned with the firm intention of resuming and even expanding his power. He also harbored the decision to take revenge and liquidate all those who had taken advantage of his absence in the face of a weakened Maduro, desperate for money and committed to the presidential election.
In this regard, it has made impressive progress. In record time, the bodies of civilians and soldiers, businessmen and politicians who were once trusted by Nicolás, are in jail.
Intelligence sources assure that the brothers Santiago and Ricardo Morón were always in Alex Saab’s sights. Regarding them, the Colombian businessman knew that one (or two) traitors had offered the Americans information that would help arrest him, in exchange for not being sanctioned. If they did so, it was of no use to them since just a month after Saab was arrested in Cape Verde, the Morón brothers were notified of the sanctions from the Treasury Department for their sustained support for the corruption of the Maduro regime.
Now an empowered Alex Saab tries to reorganize the illicit businesses that have become chaotic after the arrest of Tarek El Aissami.
In the absence of Saab, the Morón brothers managed to considerably expand their criminal space. His friendship with Nicolasito became increasingly closer; it had been born almost ten years ago upon his return from China where his father had sent him to keep him away from bad habits and company. By the time they met, the Morón family from the state of Zulia already had business with the regime that later – needless to say – multiplied in value and spread to at least a dozen countries.
But now, to the surprise of many, they appear to have fallen out of favor. Information published exclusively by the “Cuentas Claras” portal, reported that the brothers, Santiago first, and Ricardo later, have been detained, so far without official explanation.
“Cuentas Claras” has stated that an explosive altercation with Jorge Rodríguez culminated in the transfer of Santiago to the headquarters of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence. The reason for the dispute would have been that Jorge Rodríguez has excluded the Morón brothers from the list of people subject to forgiveness of their sanctions. This is the list taken to the negotiations in Barbados. Santiago, a lawyer and the one in the altercation, is the closest to Nicolasito and serves as his assistant, while Ricardo, an engineer and stockbroker, assumes himself as the operative with dozens of companies in different parts of the world. Ricardo, according to “Cuentas Claras,” was arrested hours later.
The Morón brothers began to multiply their fortune since they took control of gold and coltan in 2016. For example, it was widely known that the Santiago company had a monopoly on purchasing gold from artisanal miners at low prices and then selling them to the Central Bank of Venezuela at a considerably higher price. But the ambition grew. Will there be someone from the regime not involved in the PDVSA-crypto case?
As it is, the rot of tyranny explodes to the extent of its weakness. Dozens of dictatorships have collapsed due to internal struggles over control of resources. This time doesn’t have to be different.
