A dozen Venezuelan politicians appear among the beneficiaries of the Brazilian contractor and the names of Elías Jaua, a deputy, and Francisco Rangel Gómez, governor of Bolívar state in Venezuela, stand out. Odebrecht’s representative in Venezuela, Euzenando Azevedo, confessed to everything in Brazil and his testimony -leaked in this article- remarks that the list includes prominent individuals from Venezuela’s government but also leaders of the opposition such as Manuel Rosales, Carlos Ocariz and Antonio Ledezma.
New leaks of the "award-winning delation" that the construction company's proconsul in Caracas, Euzenando Azevedo, made to Brazilian justice last December reveal that in the elections to choose the successor to the late commander Hugo Chávez, Odebrecht made a Solomonic decision: to reach an understanding with the candidates of the Government and the Opposition and make contributions to the campaigns of both. It would not be on an equal footing: one was given $35 million, the other $15 million. But with the same consideration for both: that the public works contracts in charge of the multinational engineering company had to be respected.
Delations of the 'Lava Jato' case in Brazil have produced an outpouring of testimonies about irregular payments that flood and splash power circles in Venezuela. But not everything happens between hierarchs of politics. The contractors, with Odebrecht at the head, distributed where they thought was necessary and in the right magnitudes. While papers of the Brazilian prosecutor's office continue filtering, the talk of the files mentions a wide range of personalities that includes from businessman Gustavo Cisneros to a member of the opposition.
As if it were a novel series, the biggest corruption plot from Brazil involves a senior Venezuelan official, nothing less than the national head of state. But the Prosecutor's Office is silent. Although distanced from the government, Luisa Ortega Díaz ignored the issue, despite the fact that her counterparts had already notified her about the case.
The Sole Authority of the southern states of Monagas and Anzoátegui acknowledges that it received several transfers from the Brazilian construction company, but for issuing a book. Anyway, his is just a footnote in the list of payments without invoice made by the Brazilians. Where are the big shots? In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, silence is also a message.
The iceberg begins to emerge. Odebrecht admits to American authorities that it distributed bribes in twelve international markets, including Venezuela, where most bribes were paid: 98 million US dollars in bribes and kickbacks. At least 35 million of all that money was contributed by the civil engineering company to the last electoral campaign of Hugo Chávez. In court declarations, an informer speaks of under-the-table payments of at least US$ 600,000 in the name of company Andrade Gutierrez. This is just the beginning of the revelations.
