While there is no question that seeing Godgiven’s face on the front of the WSJ’s website was extremely satisfying and priceless, particularly to those of us that have spent over a decade trying to unmask the hoodlums in the Chavista regime, we are unsure that this headline will have the immediate meaning that some believe it has.
I mean, it is not as if Maduro got his copy of the WSJ this morning saw the headline and said: “Oh my God, how could he do this?”. I mean, this is old news. How many members of the Venezuelan military close to this person have been declared drug kingpins in the past, including his buddy Carvajal? Who happens to be Maduro’s buddy too…
And this is a press report, not even an indictment. Can we get one, please?
People have many theories surrounding this, but I buy few of them. The first and obvious one is that the Secretary of State’s Emssary Tom Shannon asked Maduro to get rid of Godgiven, showing him proof of his activities and the US would normalize relations and thus the leak
Really?
Is Maduro so strong that he can get rid of the most powerful former military in Government just like that?
I am not so sure…
After all, Maduro comes from the civilian, ideological side of Chavismo, while Godgiven represents the connection to active military. How many of his classmates hold important positions in Government? Maduro’s connection to them is tenuous at best.
In fact, if anything, this could be the spark for increased political instability in Venezuela. If Godgiven sees his political base undermined, he may decide to go for the whole enchilada. And this would bode badly for everything: Democracy, Stability, Human Rights and the future of Venezuela.
But my bet is that this will be turned into a Venezuela vs. the US battle. Another excuse to blame the problems of the country on Obama and his right wing Government. The Evil Empire trying to get rid of the expanding ideological influence of Madurismo and simply another battle in the economic war against the extremely successful economies policies of Chavismo and other stupidities like that.
In any case, we will know shortly who is right on this…
The Devil's Excrement 
May 25, 2015 at 7:25 am
I liked Chiguire Bipolar’s twit in which they stated (satirically of course!) that what pissed Godgiven about the WSJ’s article was that they referred to him as the 2nd most powerful person in Venezuela….lol
May 23, 2015 at 4:26 pm
Jesus Christ:
They’re actually going to have Ceballos killed by transferring him to this different prison.
And then claim it was just a tragic incident and they had nothing to do with it.
I’m not a praying man, but I’m praying for this guy.
May 23, 2015 at 6:35 pm
Link for above: http://tinyurl.com/m7jyp4w
May 23, 2015 at 10:53 am
oops its What ..
May 23, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Anything is possible for these guys, from their frame of reference it would make sense. Everything is absurd, what is one more thing?
May 23, 2015 at 10:53 am
Wakt do you think of Jose Guerra´s twit ?
Jose Guerra @JoseAGuerra · 34 min hace 34 minutos
Imponer un corralito a los bolívares mantenidos en el sistema financiero para evitar la compra de $ sería el mayor de los a absurdos
May 22, 2015 at 2:10 pm
Supposedly Jnauary inflation topped 10%, that is over 100% a year.
May 21, 2015 at 5:20 pm
Miguel, are there economic news coming that we dont know of? 402 and rising.
May 21, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Liquid reserves should be about 500 to 600 mm today, not a single dollar in sight to buy here.
May 22, 2015 at 2:07 pm
From 300 to 402 in around just a week, right?
And no one is still claiming official inflation of more than 100%?
May 21, 2015 at 2:29 pm
The day after the WSJ article, another load goes up in a Hawker 800 that was subsequently shot down by the Colombians. They have clients to serve and will continue to do so until they can’t anymore. The Hawker came from Apure-Barinas area where several private strips have been paved. This Hawker requires 6,000 ft. of runway to takeoff… few runways handle this in that area of the woods. The Chavistas know full well that the Colombians and Americans know full well. They are running dope under our noses. This was an open secret.
May 20, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Everyone needed a reality check. Recall the US government had to back down when NSC spokesperson said “Venezuela not a threat” before summit.
Well, guess what? Venezuela is a threat to U.S. national security. Let me rephrase that: Venezuela is a clear and present danger to the United States.
May 20, 2015 at 10:16 pm
The Exxon work next door will be protected by the US military if needed but Venezuela should be in tatters by then.
May 20, 2015 at 8:50 pm
well hopefully Maduro will be stupid enough to try to use his F Troop military to interfere with this oil find in Guyana and he’ll get his pee pee whacked…please…take some America rig workers hostage….even the Community Organizer would react to that
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exxon-mobil-says-oil-discovery-194026914.html
May 22, 2015 at 3:44 am
Here’s a different reference in the Oil and Gas Journal
ExxonMobil’s Liza-1 well encounters oil offshore Guyana
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2015/05/exxonmobil-s-liza-1-well-encounters-oil-offshore-guyana.html
The journal will eventually give us more details. I’ve looked at the general area in the past, the oil reserves in such a field could range between 100 million and 400 million barrels. There could be significant amounts of gas as well.
May 20, 2015 at 8:33 pm
Adan is getting rolled up too.
May 20, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Unfortunately, Oppenheimer and Octavio are probably right. Too much ado about nothing:
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/opinion-es/opin-col-blogs/andres-oppenheimer-es/article21503010.html
May 20, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Floyd, Oppenheimer and the guy he quotes, are clueless about what is going on and are talking in generalizations. Do you really think Oppenheimer knows Venezuela? This is at another level. Internally Venezuelans don’t give a shit but wait before rushing to conclusions. Patience!
May 20, 2015 at 7:20 pm
Wait until the indictments are unsealed. Things can go in any direction at any moment.
May 20, 2015 at 9:51 am
The article weakens international support a teensy bit. But the Cuba example shows it’s possible to be a tyrant and serial human rights abuser and get treated ok by Obama, the Pope, the French Poseur, the EU, and of course every Latin American who honors their tradition to respect and applaud anything dressed in red.
May 20, 2015 at 8:20 pm
Fernando, I think Francis is the best Pope in decades. We are really apart in POV. You should explain your comments because I’m a big Pope fan.
May 21, 2015 at 1:29 pm
What is there to explain? Be rational.
Castro is a tyrant and serial human rights abuser
AND
the Pope treats him OK.
Is the Pope treating him worse than OK?
May 21, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Kepler it was late and I was tired and on the defensive.
May 23, 2015 at 4:22 pm
Touché
May 20, 2015 at 7:50 am
I see Venezuela´s foreign exchange reserves and US Dollar parallel rate are going in opposite directions at a similar fast speed: one down, the other one up.
May 23, 2015 at 8:52 am
Parallel rate now at 423. Something is happening.
May 20, 2015 at 7:05 am
Not only in the US a News but also on Spiegel in Germany this week. I think this News made it around all over the world.
May 20, 2015 at 8:13 am
Yeah, but ISIS makes the news everyday everywhere, and what do they DO about anything?
Many of the biggest FARC leaders are having a great time enjoying their fortunes in Cuba or elsewhere.
May 20, 2015 at 2:39 am
this may be a reason why Chavez (the Castros) chose Maburro instead of Godgiven…
May 20, 2015 at 4:17 am
I think it certainly must have been one of the big reasons.
May 20, 2015 at 7:19 pm
Chavez’ choice was brother Adan but he’s tainted too. Adan was the drug boss before Diosdado ascended. Thus Maduro became president. However, Maduro is also tainted but not at the level of Diosdado. Jaua is also tainted. They all are.
May 20, 2015 at 8:11 pm
wanna add re: Adan Chavez. Stay tuned.
May 23, 2015 at 4:35 pm
Castro(s) wanted a useful idiot, and Maduro serves that role perfectly.
And he isn’t even close to realizing how the Cubans are playing him for such a fool.
May 20, 2015 at 2:02 am
“Night of the Long Machetes”
May 20, 2015 at 9:37 pm
Hoy no ha salido machete para Diosdado.
May 23, 2015 at 4:32 pm
I understood the reference…
But how could that ever happen in VZ?
When Chavez stripped the Caracas police force of real power and arms…way back when Leopoldo Lopez was mayor…that put an end to any local dissent from any authorities with guns.
May 19, 2015 at 6:49 pm
So the cat is out of the bag and we’ll soon find what kind of Schrödinger’s Cat we have. The indictments when they come will be sealed. That means Godgiven too will have país por cárcel. He and others won’t be able to travel abroad because since they aren’t positive if they are under indictment they risk being detained while abroad. It’s a clever strategy but the price that Venezuela will be paid is that increased repression.
These rumours have long been out there and if you’re a mid-level military attaché well your choices are grim. Best to cut a deal with the US and fess up, rat out your superiors because the US will start picking you off one by one.
Internally this presents a huge problem for Maduro, who isn’t involved. He’ll have to weigh saving the revolution against removing one of its pillars.
May 20, 2015 at 8:18 pm
Wrong. Maduro is very involved at different levels.
May 23, 2015 at 3:06 am
Not according to US intelligence or do you presume to know better. Perhaps you should contact the DEA otherwise you are just blowing smoke.
May 19, 2015 at 6:37 pm
Perhaps next move, going after the straw men of Godgiven including bankers and financial figures. Sort of Al Pacino saga.
May 19, 2015 at 3:57 pm
This is the US’s follow up to Miguels’ previous post “Godgiven traps his enemies in Venezuela”. ABC wrote about the investigation, Venezuelan outlets repeat ABC’s allegations, and Diosdado files suits which lock the journalists in Venezuela without due process. Who was going to do anything about the regimes increased pressure on freedom of speech in Venezuela? No one.
Reporting of the investigation in the US and worldwide investment community puts another bright spotlight on the regime from which it is hard to find shade.
Next move Maduro? Be careful, they’re watching… And Diosdado isn’t going anywhere.
May 20, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Lazarus, HELLO? And what do you call the WSJ piece? Do you want a calling card too?
May 19, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Just gathered enough courage to read “noticias24” and El Universal..
NOTHING about the WSJ Bomb.
Almost 2 days, and Diablo/masburro have not said a word. or anybody else.
It’s not easy to draw too many conclusions right now, but after going to bed with the Castros and calling Vzla a “threat”, who knows what Obama or the DEA have in mind.
But the deafening Silence from the Regime right now speaks volumes.
They sure don’t sound like they were ready for this.. or they would have already blasted the Imperio’s Evil War in 20 cadenas by now.
May 19, 2015 at 12:12 pm
That’s why none of this really means anything:
The parallels to Panama are too strong, and there’s no way that the Obama administration, or a subsequent Republican administration (and as of now fat chance), would take any measures remotely similar to Panama.
May 20, 2015 at 8:02 am
I would very much agree with your assessment. However, at the very least, it would still be kinda cool to see Godgiven waiving a gleaming machete in front of the world camera’s, ..no?
May 20, 2015 at 6:49 pm
Panama invasion was not because of the narcotics indictment. It was to protect Americans. Noriega went crazy… he brought invasion upon himself. Diosdado is similar in that way. Diosdado is a scary person who is scared. He already shot down a Bombardier near Aruba (a client’s plane & load no less) to prove his sick points. Compounding the problem is Maduro’s level of involvement a lot greater as Miguel suggests. Obviously we want to rattle their cages. The fact that we’re leaking does mean political overtones. The Chavistas are right in this regard. Sealed Narcotics Indictments are our most powerful too. It’s their Achilles’ heel. Leamsy has been a windfall and has accellerated collection efforts. Going back to Panama, it’s all in their hands. If they want to incite the United States into military action, they can IMO.
May 23, 2015 at 4:21 pm
And Noriega’s subsequent trial, conviction, and incarceration didn’t happen?
We went in based on that, but SAID it was because Americans were in danger.
May 19, 2015 at 11:03 am
Miguel,
This is how the US culture of justice builds a case. The hope is that articles like this would help erode the image of the Maduro-Diosdado’s regime. It is now in the open that Diosdado is being investigated and that the evidence is strong. We are not there yet but remember what happened to the fellow in Panama.
Paul
May 19, 2015 at 11:11 am
Given conditions in Venezuela, I would hate that what happened in Panama would happen in Venezuela.
It is very satisfying to see this in the WSJ, when I began writing my blog, one of the authors of the article (Forero) was a fierce defender of Chavez and his revolution, that is how far things have gone. However, I really dont think it will have an impact and if it does, as I say, it will be more instability, not less.
May 19, 2015 at 6:01 pm
I know the case of Panama is different but I am sure that the US justice system will find a creative way to get to Diosdado. Any move from anyone or anywhere would create instability in Venezuela. Chavistas and now Maduristas are tough thugs, they are not going to give up power that easy. The severity of the shortages and rationing alone could generate an spiral of violence. There is no easy way out here. Let us hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.
May 19, 2015 at 9:42 am
[…] Miguel Octavio ponders, Is Maduro so strong that he can get rid of the most powerful former military in Government just like… […]
May 19, 2015 at 9:09 am
[…] ANOTHER UPDATE: What the Devil says. […]