MADRID.- The Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Spanish Civil Guard investigates the meetings that the former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, had with Jorge Brizuela Guevara, “whom the FBI considers Nicolás Maduro’s front man in the context of a plot of illegal commissions in the purchase of medical supplies”.
This was expressed in a report by the newspaper El Debate where it is stated that Ábalos and Brizuela Guevara had several meetings when the former minister was still part of the Executive. Investigators have intercepted Brizuela’s conversations referring to Ábalos as “my friend” and are currently trying to find out how far the relationship between the two went.
“The Venezuelan” appears
The UCO agents point out Brizuela, nicknamed “The Venezuelan”as a key piece of the plot that was in charge of laundering “the bribes” that were channeled from the awarded contracts.
“Agent of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service, businessman with ties to the Romanian mafia in Quintana Roo (Mexico)”, this is the description of Jorge Brizuela Guevara, according to the Spanish media El País.
It is related to the “Koldo plot”, a corruption case in Spain that ranges from the purchase of masks to tourist interests in the Caribbean, since Brizuela Guevara appears as the owner of the Pronalab clinic.
His name appears involved in his alleged involvement in the “Koldo case” – named after Koldo García, who held positions of advisor to former Minister Ábalos -, a network of corruption that plagues the Spanish Socialist Party, the current government of Spain, and splashes the Caribbean, especially the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
It is believed that Koldo provided the company Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a las Empresas with information about the processes for awarding medical supplies and that he mediated so that it could obtain several contracts.
Wads of dollar bills
The vehicle that Brizuela Guevara’s network used to raise black money was a medical clinic called Pronalab, located in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).
The investigators’ investigations revolve around the role played by a Brizuela Guevara employee who was in charge of bringing to Madrid hundreds of wads of dollar bills that, according to the agents, end up being distributed among the members of the plot.
The Venezuelan He is a businessman and former military man who is part of the Chavista secret service as an “agent of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) of the Government of Venezuela,” according to the Secretariat of National Defense of Mexico.
His link to the plot that began affecting Ábalos, and that already affects several members of the Government, is Víctor de Aldama. who took Brizuela Guevara to meet Ábalos when he was still a minister. Víctor de Aldama was the commission agent who was at the Barajas airport the same day as Delcy Rodríguez. What’s more, Aldama would have been with Ábalos and his advisor Koldo at the Barajas airport to receive Rodríguez.
Brizuela Guevara, the “Chavista spy” is being investigated by three important American organizations: DEA (The Drug Enforcement Administration), the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the FBI (Federal Investigation and Intelligence Agency). In these investigations. “El Venezuelano appears as a liaison for the Romanian mafia and is linked to terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering activities.”
Whitewashing plot
It was also concluded that Brizuela Guevara “facilitated the arrival of Venezuelans linked to President Nicolás Maduro for vacations, short or long stays, as well as resources to be laundered” and that he laundered large sums of money in Puerto Rico on behalf of businessmen close to Maduro. and members of the Venezuelan Executive.
The UCO has in its possession dozens of WhatsApp messages between members of the plot in which they talk about money laundering that was carried out in the Dominican Republic.
Specifically, there are several audios exchanged by chat dated June 29, 2021 in which they talk about “all the euros to be repatriated to Spain.” It was also stated that “none of the Spaniards have been paid in the month of June.”
In another of the voice notes you hear: “Well, I’ll explain. Let’s see, I just found out that none of the Spaniards have been paid in the month of June, in the first fortnight, so here there are about fifteen thousand bucks in cash between María and Eva. Well, tomorrow he will get the exact figure. I had thought one thing, let’s see what you think. Save all the euros to repatriate them to Spain and for whatever you have to pay, you know what. Then, well, later. Tomorrow we will talk about it calmly, but I want to go in to pay, we cannot be late with the people in Spain to pay the payroll, so, apart from that, tomorrow we will talk about how to organize the rest of the cash.”
“Now I tell you. We are not going to take euros and dollars. We have to see it, we’re going to Miami and I can’t take any more; in total 10,000 dollars each, we can’t take more. So, the idea was to take only hundred-dollar bills, so that it wouldn’t take up so much and add up, because Javi has some money too and add up. “So, now I tell you, let’s see how we do it, we can’t take the rest with us and we’ll leave now at five in the afternoon on the flight, okay?” is heard in another audio, according to El Debate.
Like “a movie”
Meanwhile, Ábalos sees the information that links him to a front man of Maduro as “a movie”. The former Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, has denied that the information published that the Civil Guard would be investigating alleged meetings with a front man of Nicolás Maduro are true. “It’s a movie,” he said, according to Europa Press.
In February, Ábalos distanced himself from the arrest of his advisor for the collection of commissions: “I had no idea.” The former minister and deputy assures that he does not know the reason why Koldo García, his right-hand man in the Ministry of Transportation, has been arrested. The PSOE remembers that he is not a militant and leaves it in the hands of Justice, according to Confidencial.
The former socialist deputy and former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, returned to the plenary session of Congress after he joined the Mixed Group when he abandoned his socialist seat after the corruption scandal broke out.
Source: DEBATE / EL CONFIDENCIAL / EL PAÍS / AS /EUROPA PRESS
