Antonini and the $800,000 suitcase -Update (Part III)

News surrounding Antonini and the $800,000 in his suitcase has died down somewhat during the past week. The news that has been published often seem contradictory and filled with rumors, and speculation as to the whereabouts of Antonini. So what is the status of this whole fiasco? During the past week the Argentine judge Maria Marta Novatti has solicited the arrest of Antonini Wilson though Interpol. Since then Antonini has been located by the FBI in Florida, apparently still living at is house. He has not been arrested or detained since the Interpol warrant only seeks the localization not arrest, which requires judge Navatti to solicit a preventative arrest (currently being done) for Antonini's eventual extradition to Argentina. This whole process apparently could take a few months.



Something I did not know is that the United States and Argentina only fairly recently, since the end of 1990's, have had an extradition treaty.

The Miami Herald publisheda telephone conversation they had with Antonini's father, although nothing much was revealed.

To read more click here

In other news the Argentinian newspaper published a conversation they had with Waldimir Abad a former associate of Antonini. Abad's explains that his name is on the companies registries because it is something he does as a business, where people like Antonini receive mail in Florida then Abad sends it to Venezuela. Personally I don't buy it, first Antonini lives in Florida, second why does Abad have to be registered (i.e. as president...).

A little fun

Apparently some people have more time and are better at computer programing than me, you can now play an online game based on the Antonini scandal (just don't be caught with the suitcase) called "De Venezuela con amor" - "From Venezuela with love". It truly is funny and ingenious (check it out).

The New York Times is now controlled by Bush

This is to funny to not post.

Yesterday the New York Time published an editorial (click here to read) that was very direct and to the point regarding Chavez's constitutional reforms.

Today the Venezuelan Minister of (dis)Information, William Lara) accused The New York Times of being an agent of the Bush administration and the State Department:


The New York Times no sólo es el vocero progubernamental de Bush sino también uno de los más macabros medios de desinformación a los que apela el Departamento de Estado para justificar sus crímenes en el mundo entero.

The New York Times in not only a spokesman for Bush but is also one of the most macabre news media outlets of disinformation, which the State Department uses to justify its crimes around the world


Se evidencia en los constantes ataques de The New York Times al gobierno del presidente Chávez, que el Departamento de Estado está moviendo sus fichas para atentar contra la democracia venezolana.

It is evident by the constant attacks by the NYT towards the Chavez government that the State department is moving its pawns in attempting against Venezuelan democracy


A full translation of what Lara said can not do it justice, personally I think he has outdone himself on so many levels. If can read spanish I encourage you to read it (click here). So I won't be accused of disinforming my readers by linking to Unionradio (also controlled by Bush), here is the link to the Venezuelan government "information" web site (click here to read the same article).

So there you have it, we have now been "informed" after all these years that The New York Times is an agent of the Bush administration and the State department.

Note : Because the NYT has a time limit for articles the editorial is linked to Daniels blog (contains the entire article) article publication date Aug 22, 2007.

Venezuela's one China policy

The past couple months Venezuela and Taiwan have engaged in a diplomatic spat over three different topics. The first started around June when the Venezuelan government informed the Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) that the government would buy back its oil exploration rights since it has less than 10% stake exploration projects. The CPC responded by retaining a lawyer to deal with the dispute with the potential of filling a lawsuit against the Venezuelan government.

The second spat came in mid July when the Venezuelan government canceled the visas for the Taiwanese diplomats present in the country, which was preceded in March when Venezuela made null and voided a 90-day visa exemption favoring Taiwanese tourists. In addition the Venezuelan government stopped renewing the visas for five Taiwanese working at the Economic and Cultural Office of Taipei. This action prompted a Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesman to state the following:

As soon as Hugo Chavez came to power, Taiwan has been facing a new, unfriendly environment in Venezuela

The third spat between the Venezuelan government and Taiwan came in August. Sadly the ones caught between this were the teenage Taiwanese baseball players wanting to travel to Venezuela which was hosting the World Junior Baseball Championship. Again, the Venezuelan government felt the desire (claiming Taiwan did not request the visas in time) to not issue the Taiwanese players visas to play in the Championship. Consequently, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) canceled the 13th youth baseball championship due to the Venezuelan government's actions.

While the buyout of the Taiwanese oil exploration share is nothing really surprising or note worthy, the later two issue centering on visas is a little more disturbing. Clearly, the Chavez government is not interested in maintaining cordial relations with Taiwan. Since Taiwan has close relations with the United States this lends itself as a good geopolitical move in creating Chavez's multi-polar world, compounded with the fact that Taiwan has very little to offer Venezuela. On the other hand this move will probably be used by Venezuela to gain some favor with China, which does have a lot to offer Venezuela in terms of money and investments (e.g. oil, rail). As a side note It would be interesting to know how much pressure China is exerting on Venezuela and other countries to change their policy with Taiwan.

$800,000 and the Antonini connection Part II

During the past few days we have seen a flurry of press reports, government statements, and all sorts of juicy information all stemming from $800,000 discovered in an undeclared suit case owned by Alejandro Antonini.

To read part I click here

In my last post I discussed a person by the name Wladimir Abad. According to Florida records he owns a $1.84 million dollar home in Mami. In the Florida business registry he is the president of Abad Air, Inc. (for company web site click here).

Also mentioned was Abad business association with Ricardo Fernandez Barruecos who had his $5 million Raytheon Hawker (registry number N7000SA) jet seized by the DEA. Apparently, Abad, Barruecos, and a Arturo Minarro owned a company called American Food Grain (AFG) in the state of Delaware, which purchased the plane on September 6, 2006. AFG appears to have never been a legitimate company and has since been dissolved.

Antonini

We have learned that Antonini took multiple trips to Argentina many lasting less than 24 hours on some of these trips Antonini used a plane owned by Abad (registry number N64SL). He also traveled to Uruguay (paid for by PDVSA) along with the pro-Chavez governor Johnny Yanez of the state of Cojedes to visit Umis S.A. a company that builds prefabricated homes. Meanwhile, Venoco (Venezuelan petrochemical company) claims no relation to Antonini but it has been revealed that in fact he had a Venoco business card stating his position as advisor to the vice-president along with a Venoco email address.



The latest news is that Antonini has a warrant for his arrest in Argentina.

To read more on the connections between Antonini, Abad, and some of the other Venezuelan bankers and businessmen getting rich thanks to Chavez click here

Update - by Kenneth Rijock

The players in the unfolding money laundering scandal involving Venezuelan Businessman Alejandro Antonini cleaned out their Key Biscayne waterfront estate in the middle of the night; the Ferrari, maids, pets, and all the furniture and furnishings are gone with the wind, as is Antonini associate Franklin Duran. I know because yours truly has been there in person, peering into the windows of the empty rooms. And now Antonini is a wanted man.

to read more click here.

$800,000 and the Antonini connection in Florida

During the past week, news in Venezuela and Argentina have centered on the $800,000 in undeclared cash being carried into Argentina from Venezuela in a suit case by a man named Alejandro (Guido) Antonini. To read some background on the story click here.

Since then we have we learned that Guido Antonini owns a 2004 Ferrari 360 Spider F1 and a Porsche Carrera GT, only 1,270 were built. We have also learned that he lives in Florida and has some involvement with Venoco, a Venezuelan petrochemical company.

The Argentine press and the Miami Herald have been covering to story quite well, uncovering names, addresses, and associations. In the mean time the Venezuelan government has been trying its best to suppress the information, spin it to their advantage, distract the publics attention, and most recently have claimed they are going to conduct an investigation (don't hold your breath) while not claiming any responsibility. In the meantime the Argentinean government is calling for an investigation and an explanation by PDVSA for Antonini and the $800,000, including urging of the removal of Daniel Uzcategui as VP of PDVSA. Their strong stance is likely due to the coming presidential election in Argentina.

According to a source Antonini continues to have ties with Venoco and has recently begun working with Ricardo "Arepita" Fernandez Barrueco. Fernandez is owner of Banco Confederado and is thought to have aquired Banco Bolivar and Banpro after their former owner Eligio Cedeno was put in prison. Fernandez is also said to be a recent major share holder in the Mexican company Gruma, which is now the major corn flour supplier for the Venezuelan government run supermarkets, Mercal. Fernandez business association however doesn't just include banking and corn flour, in 2007 his private plane was seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)in Miami, since then he has taken a low profile.

Today Clarin.com published an article, in it they mentioned the company Foxdelta Investments one of Antonini's companies and the name Wladimir Abad. Below is some information I was able to dig up on other companies run by Antonini and information on Wladimir Abad.

Companies listed in Florida where Alejandro (Guido) Antonini holds an executive position:

FOXDELTA INVESTMENTS, INC.
VENUZ SUPPLY, INC.
INTERTEL TELECOM, LLC
TECHMILK, INC.
GLOBAL ADS CORP.

The Miami Herald
has listed all four companies as not having any phone number, nor have I been able to find any record of them on-line.

Addresses used by Antonini in the above registered companies:

727 CRANDON BLVD, SUITE 301
KEY BISCAYNE FL 33149

655 N. MASHTA DR.
KEY BISCAYNE FL 33149

11801 NW 100 ROAD, SUITE 1
MIAMI FL 33178 US

Business associates of Alejandro Antonini listed in the above companies:

REGNAULT, JACQUELINE (Antonini's wife - Jacqueline Maria Regnault Palacios)
WLADIMIR, ABAD or ABAD, WLADIMIR
CARTA, JORGE SR
PEREZ, CARLOS
CARTA, JORGE SR

Curiously, Antonini's wife Jacqueline is president of another company by the name of ANTSAI INVESTMENTS, INC. her business associate is Olga M Saizarbitoria at a different address from above. Both individuals use the address of 1492 S. MIAMI AVE., STE. #203, Miami FL, 33131, which is a different address from those used by Antonini.

Wladimir Abad Mujica

One of Antonini's associates in Foxdelta Investments, Inc. and in Techmilk, Inc. by the name of Abad Wladimir Mujica appears to be an interesting person to. In the Florida Division of Corporations Abad is registered under two version of his name (Wladimir, Abad and Abad, Wladimir). He is registered in 22 different corporations (see images) using the address of 8075 SW 107 Ave Apt. 109, Miami FL, 33173. Like the companies registered with Antonini's, none of these 22 companies appear to have any formal business (based on web search). The 22 companies include 19 different associates with most using Florida addresses, although 5 used addresses in Caracas.




It might be important to note that most of companies were registered in Florida as of 2004 and 2005.

My hiatus and a little something

My apologies for not posting regularly for the past 3 weeks or so, I have busy writing a research proposal that is due a week from monday to get federal money, so you can imagine the paper work that is required. I am also going out of town and moving within that time to, so not much time to blog. Also things in Venezuela have stopped surprising me, it is simply a new day and a further decent into totalitarianism.

Briefly I would like to mention Chavez's environmental credentials continue to be tainted. After the crazy idea of building a pipeline though the Amazon from Venezuela to Argentina through Brazil, Venezuela is now going help with the exploration of oil in Bolivia's Madid national park.

"Bolivian Energy Minister Carlos Villegas said the investment would materialize in the first half of 2008 and would be channeled through Petroandina, a company formed by the powerful PDVSA and its smaller Bolivian counterpart, YPFB.

He said Petroandina would start exploring for oil next year in Bolivia's Madidi, a vast national park that stretches from the Andes to the Amazon basin and is said to be one of the most biodiverse areas on earth."

Perhaps Sean Penn should look into this he is a "journalist" after-all on a" fact finding mission". Oh wait he is to busy with his spoon feed revolutionary tour directed by Chavez himself. Obviously money can't buy intelligence.