Saturday, January 26, 2008

Maletagate gets very interesting by the minute. Moises Maionica one of the men charged in the US with being an agent of the Venezuelan Government in US territory in the Maletagate scandal, changed his plea to guilty in a sign that he is now coopertaing with US authorities. Immediately the Venezuelan Foreign Minister said Maionica was lying through his teeth in declaring himself guilty. Maionica was facing 15 years in jail if found guilty after declaring himself innocent, but has probably changed his plea now in exchange for immunity and reportedly, a US visa. Maionica's plea change clearly indicates that Maionica is telling his stry and exchanging information. This could mean bad news for the Venezuelan Government not only in the Maletagate case, but also Maionica was the legal representative of the fingerprint machines used in the 2004 referendum and reportedly held property in his name, which belonged to former CNE President Jorge Roridguez, who was later named Vice President of Venezuela and currently is President of Chavez' political party PSUV. In the last few days it has become known that the FBI had more tapes, videos and information that previously revealed, including SMS messages exchanged by teh accused with Venezuela, which prove their involvement. Most analysts expect others accused in the case to change their plea now that Maionica, considered to be the one with the contacts at the highest levels of the Venezuelan Government, has begun singing. Many people in Caracas must be feeling their feet trembling and it is not precisely an earthquake. 1:02:41 AM    comment []