Parable of the Bad Gringo and the Other One that May not be as Bad
Two US citizens arrived in Venezuela this year on closed dates, and both were left in prison to face terrorism charges. Since then, their destinations began to diverge. Deportation is expected for one of them; a long season in Venezuelan dungeons for the other. But, above all, it is an exercise to test the definitions of 'terrorism' and 'news' for the propaganda apparatus of the chavista government, archrival of Washington. While the capture of one of them deserved a press conference by the Minister of Interior, the other went unnoticed. Why? Who is who in these parallel stories?
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Two
men with the same nationality, American, stepped on Venezuelan soil for
different reasons, and ended up with their bones in jail. One arrived on June 11
directly from the United States, on a commercial flight to meet again with his
native conquest, which he met on the Internet. The other, nobody knows from
where or when he arrived, maybe by land from Brazil and perhaps to hide from the
authorities, which he evaded for almost 20 years. One, with no criminal record,
appeared in all state media and his case even deserved a national radio and
television network by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Justice, and Peace; the
other, with two Interpol arrest warrants, did not have space in the national
media.
Joshua
Holt, born in Utah, USA, 24 years ago, provisionally lived in Ciudad Caribia,
the housing complex devised by President Hugo Chávez in 2006, close to the
Caracas-La Guaira highway, on the way to the Simón Bolívar international airport
in the state of Vargas. On June 30, he was surprised while in bed by the
Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) in a People’s Liberation Operation (OLP), the
twenty-third security plan implemented by the governments of the self-styled
Bolivarian Revolution to end the insecurity that mortifies the Venezuelan
people. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he was caught in
flagrante.
Based
on another version, he was taken from his bed in his underwear, and when facing
what he considered as police abuse, he tried to record his own arrest with his
cell phone. "I know my rights," he repeated. In that same version, the agents,
realizing where the surprised man was from, decided to arrest him. A kind of
booty about which they boasted in all public media, with the Minister of
Internal Affairs, Justice and Peace, the today dismissed Major General Gustavo
González Lopez, as spokesman. They let him get dressed and detained him together
with the woman with whom he had just married, Thamara Belén Caleño, of
Ecuadorian origin, but a naturalized Venezuelan.
Photo from the Instagram account @romannoodles10, a friend of Holt who posted it in this social network showing his support
Josh Holt and Thamara Belén Caleño // Photo Twitter @JoshJusticefor
Josh Holt and Thamara Belén Caleño // Photo Twitter @JoshJusticefor
Josh Holt // Photo Twitter @JoshJusticefor
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On
February 3, 2016, a traveler dressed in an orange robe, long gray hair, skinny,
tall, and with pale skin, was about to travel from the Jacinto Lara airport in
Barquisimeto (State of Lara, west central Venezuela) bound for Caracas. At the
check-in desk, something caught the attention of the airline workers: false
identification and two Interpol alerts. A man with three names, Robert Caring,
Niels Christian Nielsen and Robert Dean Child; two declared professions: writer
and professor; and a past that goes back to 1995, in the distant population of
Purulia, in the region of West Bengal (India).
The
American, born in Pennsylvania in 1953, has several US passports and a foreigner
card from Brazil. He has been sought by India since January 10, 1996, and has
two international red notices, one from December 1, 1997, and another one from
February 18, 2016, both, under accusations of drug trafficking, gun smuggling,
money laundering, and
terrorism.
Two Men, Two Cities
Holt,
a missionary Mormon, stop being in mission to be a parishioner of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In his effort to better understand the Latin
American communities he attended, he tried to learn Spanish online. And on that
path, he found Thamara Caleño. The digital interaction gave way to a personal
encounter in the Dominican Republic. Then they planned to go to the United
States of America together and get married, prior request of the "K visa", which
allows the future spouse of the US citizen to speed up the paperwork and obtain
the papers. He arrived in Caracas on June 11. Something happened on the way,
perhaps the rush for marital life that led Joshua and Thamara to marry in
Venezuela, which meant that they should continue waiting for another five months
in the country to travel and comply with the US administrative
procedures.
The
communal utopia of Ciudad Caribia lies in a huge set of tall buildings, in the
middle of nowhere on the way from Caracas to La Guaira. To reach its high
plateau, you have to turn off on a curvy road, with empty surroundings. There
are some services, such as a basic medical center, a grocery store, a primary
school and court premises, all state agencies. There are also informal shops
that publicize themselves on the bars of the houses with handwritten posters,
like "We have ice cream." In the few bus stops, people crowd waiting for
transportation.
The
mission of the People’s Liberation Operation (OLP) —campaign of armed takeovers
of popular neighborhoods by state law enforcement agencies to submit organized
crime groups that have strengthened within them— was developed in Ciudad Caribia
during the early morning of June 30. The National Guard was not there longer
than necessary, until they returned to take the area, a day after the then
Minister of Internal Affairs, Justice, and Peace appeared on the state channel
to talk about the capture of El gringo, as they nicknamed Holt. On July 21, at
the entrance of the building blocks, a helicopter, armored cars and dozens of
soldiers were still in the neighborhood. "We cannot say what we are doing here,
but it is preventive," said one of the military commanders. Among the entities
present were the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the Venezuelan Investigative and
Criminal Police Corps (CICPC, Auxiliary Police Force of the Prosecutor's
Office).
That
day, few wanted to talk about Holt's case. Those who talk, refer more to
Thamara, his wife, who "did not mess with anyone, was a hard worker and one of
the pioneers of Ciudad Caribia," says a neighbor who asked to remain anonymous.
About Joshua Holt, "We saw him around here. We knew he was the husband, but we
barely know him and I cannot say if he's a good or a bad guy". After all, he was
a newcomer.
The
first inhabitants arrived in 2011 to the valley chosen by Chávez. They were some
of the victims who lost their homes in the heavy rains of late 2010. Thamara,
along with her mother and sisters, was one of them, and soon began working as a
cleaner in the Integral Diagnostic Center (CDI) of the area. "I cannot complain
about her as a worker, and she is an excellent person. I do not know what could
have happened, "says one of the staff managers of the CDI, who prefers not to
give her name, "They do not let us give statements."
Robert
Caring's situation in Venezuela was very different from Holt's. According to
court documents, he does not have any credentials, but he does have an address,
in the country.
After
climbing a steep, long street, with nobody around even though the route is taken
in broad daylight, and it is marked by big houses, some with front garden, you
reach the house named Prout. At the corner of calle Terepaima con Mosén Sol, in
El Marqués, a middle-class area in the northeast of Caracas, in front of a
half-done and abandoned security gate, is this huge house with a Venezuelan
flag, accompanied by a purple flag with the globe on the center. On its balcony,
a large poster with the name Prout, acronym for Progressive Utilization Theory,
a socio-economic theory born in India in the 60's with the support of
philosopher Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, aimed to overcome the limitations of
capitalism and communism, both paradigmatic and conflicting epoch-making
economic theories. Based the records of the Supreme Court of Justice, Robert
Caring was staying in this research center.
Nobody
answers the bell. Nobody answers the phone, neither the inhabitants of the house
next door. There is no indication that there was an international terrorist in
that area. It seems that time has stopped in this center that seeks the
construction of a better world and that is opposed to corruption, the violation
of Human Rights or "the economic rules that adversely impact communities,
national governments and entire regions of the world ", as stated on its
website. But, if they gave shelter to Robert Caring, they may have contravened
their own rules.
Robert Caring after being arrested at the Barquisimeto airport // Photo Twitter @interpolcicpc
About Presumed and Confessed
On
April 11, the body of Omar Jesús Molina Marín, candidate for deputy for the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV, the government party) was found in
Ciudad Caribia. He was murdered. The OLP of the dawn on June 30 was aimed to
dismantle the Los Sindicalistas paramilitary criminal gang, which
according to the investigators, were responsible for the murder of the political
leader. On the way, they met Joshua Holt and detained him "for possession of
weapons of war, high-caliber munitions, strategic maps of the city, and computer
equipment that would be used to execute terrorist
actions."
The
press conference of the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Justice, and Peace,
Gustavo González López, set out to demonstrate the official hypothesis: "Under
different facades, the US services seek to achieve objectives of the
Non-Conventional War through interventionist actions, and they promote the
formation of criminal paramilitary bands to displace the goals achieved by the
Revolution."
González
López said that Caleño and Holt had "a strange and suspicious relationship on
the Internet", that she had left the country several times financed by him and
that their marriage was solemnized with irregularities. Regarding this matter,
the Mayor’s Office of Sucre said that both met all the requirements provided by
law. The former minister also said that he was "a trained gunman, specialized in
the use of new technologies, evidence in social networks, and worship of guns,
typical of the culture imposed on a large part of Americans, where terrorist
acts are common."
On
the night of December 17 to 18, 1995, a plane was flying over Purulia, about 300
kilometers from Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal. Something did not go as
planned and, in addition to the parachuted load full of weapons, the plane fell.
The next day, the Indian authorities found the plane, and inside, there were 9
mm pistols, Dragon assault rifles, night vision devices, telescopic sights and
ammunition, all brought from Bulgaria, according to the Government of India. But
no sign of the organizer of the shipment, the real Niels Christian Nielsen,
a.k.a. Kim Peter Davy, or the owner of the plane, Robert
Caring.
Davy
escaped with Caring's help. They crossed the Indian-Nepalese border after
passing through Mumbai, without leaving India legally, according to the Indian
newspaper The Telegraph. From there, they went to Thailand, and it is known that
Caring then flew from Singapore to Brazil, where he resided. No one knows how he
got from there to Venezuela, whether it was on a commercial flight or by
land.
India
has requested the arrest of Caring since January 10, 1996, but it was in January
1997 when the first Interpol red notification warned the following: "He may be
armed, and may be using other identities." And in addition to the aforementioned
charges, he is accused of smuggling gold and other goods from Asia and Africa,
trade of computer parts and electronic items. Kim Davy, the ringleader of the
Purulia shipment of weapons "for terrorist uses," is related to three people
convicted in the 1980s for planting a bomb in Sidney, S. Forder a.k.a. Dhuba,
Mrs Singh and David O'Hee. The Indian authorities know that Davy went through
Rotterdam, Orebro (Sweden) and Sao Paulo, where he was seen with
Caring.
The
last thing known about Davy was when he gave an interview to Times Now of India
in 2011, which does not specify the place where it was made, whether it was
face-to-face or by telephone. Caring's colleague speaks at the risk of being
extradited as a terrorist, "I do not consider myself a terrorist. I do not feel
that I have harmed anyone. I wanted to protect people from communism in the
area." He said that the arms were for the legal defense of the people of Purulia
against the Communist Party of India, and that the Indian intelligence, the RAW
(Research and Analysis Wing) and the British MI5 were behind. "There was a
former intelligence agent inside the plane. They [the Indian authorities] knew
about the plan, the cargo on board, the landing area of ??the
cargo..."
1) Interpol detuvo en el Aeropuerto Internacional Jacinto Lara Barquisimeto, a ROBERT CARING, quien presenta Alerta Roja x New Delhi- India
— Altagracia Anzola (@Alanzola) 3 de febrero de 2016
It
was a whole international plot, documented in the media, even confessed by its
protagonists. Despite the seriousness of the accusations, if requested
internationally, Robert Caring - or Nielsen or Dean Child - did not deserve a
mention in the presidential network, nor a speech by the Minister of Internal
Affairs, Justice, and Peace. His case was heard after the journalist from the
source of events, Altagracia Anzola, received a tip-off from her sources in
Lara; information barely retweeted a few times and that few national media
replicated in their digital versions.
Regarding
Holt, the minister said that he belonged to a paramilitary criminal group "with
the support of extreme right groups in the country." Nicolás Maduro talked about
him, the Últimas Noticias newspaper issue the press release between its pages
with the headline Paraco Joshua Holt "had links with institutions and political
figures". The Misión Verdad [Mission Truth] website dedicated extensive lines to
the case.
Caring
is waiting to be extradited to India. While these lines are written, Holt
expects a final accusation between the walls of the
Helicoide.
