The Missing Link of Business between Buenos Aires and Caracas

Without leaving a trace, José María Olazagasti, the obscure lieutenant of the Kirchnerist Minister of Planning, Julio De Vido, disappeared. Olazagasti, from the shadow, and De Vido, in public, both were the architects of the golden age of trade agreements between the Pink House and the Miraflores Palace. Most of these deals show no visible work, and some of them are the starting points of legal cases that begin to spread around in Argentina. The personal secretary was the one who managed with whom to meet and for what business.
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"Mysterious,
quiet, and ambitious;" little is known about him, how he operated. He hardly
talked with the media when he was with Julio De Vido, the powerful and
controversial Minister of Planning of the governments of Néstor Kirchner and his
widow, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who also became the business ambassador
of Buenos Aires in Caracas. Even though he is the right hand —the agenda, the
ears, an even the treasurer of insulin, as a newspaper from La Plata says— of
Minister De Vido, and was promoted from personal advisor to the Ceremonial
Director, with duties that are virtually the same as those of a Secretary of
State, José María Olazagasti is almost a ghost, which few speak of because they
know little or out of fear, or in other cases, for considering him a "marginal
character" within the Kirchner government and a traitor. Although on the
sidelines, apart and in the background, Olazagasti was the one who managed to
take certain businessmen from his country to negotiate with the Bolivarian
Government in his multiple trips to Caracas. Tango and salsa that mixed in the
Venezuela-Argentina trust and that were music for his pocket and a change in the
rhythm of life of this entrepreneur of Basque origin.
Villa
Lugano is the second largest neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires, a sort of
23 de Enero in Buenos Aires -as the politically active working-class
neighborhood of Caracas-, a Peronist bastion of the Federal Capital. This was
the place that saw in 1974 the birth of the son of "El Vasco Olazagasti," a
historical leader of the Justicialism. The father was a friend of Julio De Vido,
now a national deputy, with whom he was in a local party headquarters. "He comes
from a very low social level. Even in 2002, before Néstor Kirchner came to
power, he asked for work to Argentine businessmen because he was just starting
out and he was a very humble guy," says journalist Francisco Olivera, of La
Nación newspaper, and author, together with Diego Cabot, of the book “Hablen
con Julio” (2011).

Jose María Olazagasti - Photo: Courtesy of www.perfil.com
José
María, "chubby, short and low profile," as described by another Argentine
journalist, in 2006 began to be active in Commitment K, a group to support the
reelection of Néstor Kirchner. But the melody changed for him before, when Julio
De Vido called him to be his personal advisor after he was appointed as Minister
of Planning in 2003. Then, they would start their trips to
Venezuela.
Tango
Olazagasti
was promoted from a minor position, as advisor, secretary, to Ministry
Ceremonial Director. His position was not assigned in the Official Gazette.
Hence, there is no obligation to declare his personal assets and earnings to the
Anticorruption Bureau (thus, he could be released now from any conviction from
justice). His position corresponds to a category C of the Administrative
Profession System, based on the labor scale of Argentina, for which he should
charge between 3,000 and 4,000 (198-264 US dollars). However, the man from Villa
Lugano seems to have managed to develop and make ends meet. In a 2010 report
from La Nación newspaper says that at that time, he lived in Villa Nueva
del Tigre country (closed neighborhood), "it is not the most exclusive, but it
is a high cost for a category C employer", highlights the press release. It also
refers to the monthly fee of a school in the private neighborhood of Nordelta
"the monthly fee of which is no less than 2500 pesos (or around 165 dollars)."
These are places in the delta of the Paraná River that since its flows into Río
de la Plata, near Buenos Aires, it has become a suburb of well-to-do classes in
the Argentine capital.
"He
is discreet, but eats at fine places, drives nice cars, he is guarded. He is
like a secretary, but more than a secretary. He is someone next to a minister,
but with much power," says Rodrigo Alegre, a journalist of Channel 13 in Buenos
Aires.
How
could he do it from a position as secretary? "He had links with the public work.
He went from being a secretary to having a lot of power, influencing politics
and getting involved in business. He was in charge of the papers, De Vido’s
agenda, the meeting with businessmen," says Alegre. He became the minister's
main operator and, with the international trips, he began negotiating as a
Secretary of State and closing agreements with Venezuela, Ecuador or Algeria.
Although, all the consulted sources agree, he did not sign anything, he did not
declare anything, so his track can only be guessed from the visits he made, for
example, to the Venezuelan capital.
After
Antonini Wilson's valijagate or suitcase scandal, Claudio Uberti,
director of the Órgano de Control de Concesiones Viales (OCCOVI), the federal
agency that regulates highway concessions, and coordinator of the
Argentina-Venezuela agreement, the so-called Financial Series II Trust or, as it
is known in Argentina, PDVSA II, was remove from his position in December 2007.
At that time, the already empowered Olazagasti, takes more power and is in
charge of business abroad.
"All
the Argentine businessmen knew that by talking and meeting with him, they did it
directly with De Vido. Being someone with little training, without a degree, and
who did not know what a liter of gas was, he ended up with the most important
businessmen in the Argentine energy sector. He had massive power and his wealth
significantly grew," says Olivera.
It
is estimated that since the fall of Uberti, Olazagasti made 42 trips abroad.
Through documents from sources of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Argentina,
to which Armando Info had access, at least 15 trips of the Ceremonial Director
to Venezuela could be verified.
Salsa
Olazagasti
only traveled by order of Julio De Vido, says Rodrigo Alegre. The first flight
that has been recorded was on April 5, 2004, a trip he made with the minister
and Uberti. He would travel again with the same company on May 28, coinciding
with the signing of the trust. That year, he made at least another trip from
June 3-6, along with Uberti and Victoria Bereziuk, who was also a passenger of
the private flight of Antonini Wilson. They were given 89, 118, and 110 dollars
as travel allowance, respectively, as well as 46 dollars for health
insurance.
On
November 22, 2005, the Official Gazette announced with retroactive effect the
official trip of the trio De Vido-Olazagasti-Uberti, from November 20 to 22,
this time to Puerto Ordaz, state of Bolivar, the capital of heavy industry in
Venezuela, a trip that was also attended by President Kirchner, and where they
met with Hugo Chávez. On that occasion, one of the visits made by the presidents
included the hydroelectric dam of Macagua, on the Caroní River in the middle of
the city, "a sign that in that summit the energetic cooperation was discussed or
was to be discussed," BBC World said.
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With
similar delay, another announcement was made in the Official Gazette of July 7,
2006, for a trip of the same triplet, which was in Caracas from July 3 to 5. The
sixth trip on record was made on March 5-8, 2008, with Cristina Fernández as
president, who was in the delegation along with De Vido, her right hand, and
presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccinarro, bound for Caracas with stops in the
Dominican Republic and Haiti for the XX Summit of the Rio Group. Again, the
announcement was made in the Official Gazette two days after starting the
trip.
The
peculiarity of the following trips, in addition to knowing that José María
Olazagasti traveled to Caracas, is that either he shared flight or coincided in
the capital with Juan José Levy, the businessman who faces several criminal
cases for alleged money laundering and smuggling, and who appeared as the owner
of offshore companies in the investigation of the so-called Panama Papers. In
2009, they were both in Caracas on August 10-12. The following year, on April
16, they shared the flight of Aerolineas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to
Caracas. Levy participated in the sale of medicines to Venezuela, as well as the
digital television system that the Government of Nicolás Maduro eventually
adopted.
Levy
denies to the Justice knowing the secretary, but according to Olivera, they do
know each other, "their children are school mates at a Northland school, a
district of Buenos Aires. And precisely those flights and that meeting are the
few things that are known about Olazagasti that are in the hands of
Justice."
In
2012, they coincide again, first between March 20 and 23 and then in September.
It is on this date that it seems that a third person joined the dance, because
he shared a round trip Buenos Aires-Caracas from the 14th to
19th, with Olazagasti and one more passenger, Minister De Vido, as
evidenced in the Customs records. The same queer tango trio, and apparently the
last, is repeated on March 19, 2013. Olazagasti and Levy will be back in Caracas
in March and April 2013 and in May 2014.
Noise and Fury
What
businesses did Olazagasti in Venezuela, with whom he met, what money, which
businesses were made? At this moment, the music lowers its decibels until it
becomes almost inaudible. Nobody knows with certainty. Olazagasti, says Rodrigo
Alegre, traveled only at the urging of Julio De Vido, "He arranged connections
with businessmen of both countries for him, some Argentines who are here
(Argentina), but there is no certainty about who they were." And he explains
that, apparently, he played a leading role in the trust with the Venezuelan
state oil company Pdvsa, "several trips were intended to plan
it."
In
Olazagasti's melody, and how he got rich there is also a moment when the volume
is high, very loud, and becomes noise. It is something that everyone hears, but
nobody can specify. "Everybody knows. The businessmen have said that they paid a
commission to get those businesses with Venezuela. One of those who told me, who
died, was in the trust and said that you had to pay to enter," says Francisco
Olivera. The Argentine media reported that the commission charged to each
company was 15% of the contract in US dollars. But there is not much
transparency, and it is now, with the change of administration in the hands of
Mauricio Macri since December 2015, when the scores begin to be
cut.

Juan José Levy with Hugo Chávez - Photo courtesy: La Nación (Argentina)
Not
even from the Venezuelan Argentine Chamber of Commerce (Cavenarg), based in
Caracas, they say they know about the business. Benjamin Tripier, president of
Cavenarg, says that he never saw Olazagasti, "he was not even close to the
Chamber. I know him from the press. There was no deal with the Chamber. We were
in another dimension. We knew what was happening, the Government contracts, but
that was it. We do not know if any registered company had to do with that. They
(the Government) had no interest in us neither we in them. They had their own
circuit." As to the trust, Tripier assures that "it was something very
selective, which not everyone had access to. I do not know if there was any
genuine business there and I think that the one who did those things did not say
much, and one understands, because it was not very close to what transparent
business could be." And he assures that what he says now is the same he knew
back then, "we never had to participate in a meeting where De Vido or Olazagasti
were present."
In
a contact by email with Eduardo Alberto Sadous, who was ambassador from 2002 to
2005, he refused to have an interview about Olazagasti. "Unfortunately, I cannot
help you, because during my administration, Olazagasti was nothing more than the
secretary of Julio De Vido, the minister. After Uberti and the Antonini Wilson
episode, he became a 'parallel ambassador', but I had already left my
position."
The
statements of Sadous about the secretary and the movements in the embassy are
available in the documents of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Argentina, which
we have access to for this press release. From his testimony it is clear that
"the embassy was informed of the arrival and departure of the officials only. It
did not participate in most of the meetings held with the different Venezuelan
government agencies, especially with the Ministry of Energy and PDVSA, the head
of which was Rafael Ramírez." Not even Ambassador Sadous was in charge of
receiving them, but Álvarez Tufillo, former economic and commercial advisor of
the embassy in Venezuela.
The
visits of Minister De Vido and Uberti were considered official. In a broad
sense, they were visits by officials, but did not require protocol treatment.
They were work visits." Sadous testifies that he did not even obtain a copy of
the agreement entered into by and between PDVSA and the Federal Planning
Ministry and, as to the mechanism by which Argentine companies were authorized
to participate in the agreement, he has no evidence "that there was any special
system or mechanism," he ignores how they were selected.
Neither
Carlos Cheppi, ambassador in the Caribbean country from 2001 to 2015, wanted to
talk about that matter. "Good evening. Excuse me. I do not give interviews.
Thank you," was all he said when contacted by instant
messaging.
Electronic Tango
"Good
afternoon, Mr. Olazagasti. I'm making a profile about you and I'd like to
interview you. I hope I can count on your assistance. Regards." An hour later,
the two whatsapp tick marks change to blue. "Hi, 2 or 3 times I was asked about
that person. This is not his telephone number." After confirming with several
people, it is corroborated that the number belongs to José María Olazagasti. We
insisted on the identity of the person behind the phone screen, the blue tick
remain, but there is no answer until after a while. The person
calls.

Olazagasti next to Julio De Vido
"I'm
not that man. I'm Rodrigo Vaquerizo, music producer. I'm sure this is some
friends who are playing a joke on me. I do not know who you're talking e about."
The name is sought but there is no trace of someone in the world of music with
that name in Argentina. It is corroborated again with several Argentine
journalists that the number belongs to Olazagasti. "Maybe the profile picture
has been changed - a very low resolution photo of an empty stage, half mounted
and with the lights on - but that is definitively his number," they confirm on
the other side of the phone. We insisted again on the identity. A new
call.
-
I am a musician, is this man (Olazagasti) an artist?
-
No.
-
He is not in my business?
-
No.
-
Google me as I googled you. Do journalists call me and it's not because of artistic matters? I want you to call me for my music. It is not a joke. Where are you calling from?
-
From Venezuela.
-
Things are difficult there...
-
But it seems that not for business.
-
I do not know. We never went to play in Venezuela. Google “Otros Aires” (Other Airs) and when you come to Argentina and want to hear electronic tango, I'll take you out to dance. You never know how friendly relationships begin.
Otros
Aires
was born in 2003 in Barcelona (Spain), designed by Argentine musician Miguel Di
Genova. While the forerunners of the Neotango genre were Malevo, followed by
Gotan Project - then Bajofondo - the Di Genova band quickly achieved worldwide
fame. But there is no trace of Rodrigo Vaquerizo or his relationship with
electronic tango. We called again to the telephone number and it was
disconnected.
This
real or fictitious alter ego has at least something in common with De Vido's
right hand, production and music. Marmot Producciones SRL, registered in March
2013, is a company responsible for the production of theatrical and musical
shows in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. It is also responsible for the
provision of services and organization of social, cultural, sporting, business
events, and the like. Who is its manager? José María
Olazagasti.
The Silence
If,
when he was a key player in the business of the Kirchner government, he was a
man of whom little or nothing was known, when the tango-salsa mashup began to
play the end, it was almost impossible to trace him. The discretion of
Olazagasti reaches such a level that it later went to enlarge the ranks of the
Federal Intelligence Agency, according to a publication of Noticias
magazine, where he appears together with other 137 names. His spy alias matched
his initials: José Oslo. A source tells that he was linked in the federal courts
to clean up the cases against Daniel Scioli, governor in the province of Buenos
Aires and then candidate in the last presidential
elections.
Neither
Cheppi nor Sadous talk about him, because "they cannot. They do not give
interviews. They did not meet him". Either those who should know him well. This
is the case of Alberto Fernández, in President of the Cabinet of Argentina from
2003 to 2008. He does not have much idea on the subject, nor on Olazagasti,
because he never worked with him. "In the Government structure, he was a
marginal character. He was De Vido's secretary only. He had no other function.
If he did other things, they were not public." Even in spite of the relevance
that the Ceremonial Director seems to have, he points out, "It strikes me that
they have noticed him."
Why
do they deny knowing him if he was responsible for coordinating one of the
biggest businesses of the government of Néstor and Cristina? Because a sector of
Kirchnerism considers him a traitor. José López, who was secretary of Public
Works, was arrested after a neighbor of the monastery Nuestra Señora de Fátima
in Buenos Aires reported that someone was throwing bags full of money from a car
inside the convent. There are those who suspect that it was not a neighbor, but
Olazagasti, but it is not proved.
And,
now ... "He is missing. He is likely to be in Argentina," agree all the sources
consulted, who also agree that as he lost political power, his link with
businessmen vanished.