Entrusted to the hands of God and the doctors was the deputy José Brito for 30 days in which he suffered the coronavirus disease, according to his testimony. Already incorporated into his parliamentary work, Brito, a former member of Primero Justicia and now in the ranks of Primero Venezuela, continues to lead the Special Commission designated to investigate the events perpetrated by the National Assembly corresponding to the 2016-2020 period.
He promises this week to give details of findings detected in the management of a Venezuelan state company controlled by a colleague of his in the previous AN who claims to be "President of the Republic." But in the interview he gave us via Zoom, Brito showed what this new chapter is about in the plot starring former opposition deputies.
At the time of answering our questions, Brito was in El Tigre (Anzoátegui) where he is from, preparing the relaunch of Gente en el Aire, a program that he moderated for 20 years from the Orbit Circuit. In that eastern city, the political vocation of Brito was born, who was a student delegate at the high school and the university. The parliamentarian is titled in Administrator, Social Communicator and Law, for which he clarifies that he lives from those careers, not from politics. "Politics has not been their modus vivendi," he said.
¿What is the balance of the Special Commission chaired by you which investigates the previous parliament?
-It is a very complex commission because we are opposition parliamentarians that investigates the AN 2016-21 where all the presidents are opposition people. Then anyone could say "an opposition deputy investigating opposition deputies." Some point at me and tell me why not investigate red-red corruption. I answer that I am also part of the Permanent Commission of the Comptroller's Office and logically there will be investigated the corruption red-red, blue-blue, yellow-yellow, but in this case this is a commission that has a specific function and is: carry out an investigation perpetrated against the Republic; damage to the human, social, and economic aspects, which in the end is a vast compendium.
-And so far, what damages have been perpetrated in the political, social and economic terms?
-If we go to the human side, here it was played with the hope of an important part of the population that I could say the majority, others could say that it is not the majority that aspires and wants a change. Economically, I believe that it is a terrible damage since it is an unprecedented event because deputies from Venezuela promoted, promoted and became necessary accomplices of a group of countries to formally seize the country's wealth, such as the Department of the North American Treasury. This is an unprecedented fact: that another country has protected, in quotation marks, the resources of the Venezuelan State.
-How much is the economic damage that you describe?
-Only in City Bank accounts there are more than 30 billion dollars dammed that could perfectly be the international reserves of this country. This also affects the macroeconomic issues and the country's fiscal deficit, the Gross Domestic Product. But we are also talking about what stopped entering the country, as a result of what some have called a blockade, others have called sanctions. For me, they are unilateral coercive measures that, economically, have made it impossible, for example, to trade crude oil.
-Has the Special Commission interviewed people familiar with this matter to document this situation?
-We have received any number of researchers from different universities, from non-governmental organizations. By the way, one of the most recent we received was Dr. Pascualina Cursio. She referred a patrimonial damage that amounts to 190 billion dollars. A monstrous figure because it is not only what is dammed in bank accounts of both the United States Department of the Treasury and European countries, but what has stopped entering the country during all these years. And here it is not a damage that is done to the government of Nicolás Maduro or to the regime of Nicolás Maduro, whatever you want to call it, but to the ordinary citizen.
-The Commission has also investigated the issue of NGOs and their eventual impact on those damages perpetrated against Venezuela. What responsibility have they found?
-A group of NGOs ended up becoming the necessary accomplices for the misappropriation of money from humanitarian aid from foreign resources as well as from the Venezuelan State's own resources.
-Are there any examples of that?
-For example, each resource that was downloaded through non-governmental organizations, required what they called the implementers. They were the ones who developed ... it's like an NGO to bring migrants and treat them with blankets and medicines. So they say 'well the implementer is so-and-so; then that implementer of that program charges 30% ”. In other words, the big business is the implementers who end up with 30%.
-And where is that money?
-They created a fund called Venezuela Investment Fund, Fivendev with accounts in South Africa that we have been able to determine through research, where donations from these implementers would go. It is a fund created by two people, one of them cousin-brother of Juan Gerardo Guaidó Marquez. It was created to be able to justify before international banks these resources that come from the exercise of making this movement, in quotes, an opponent in Venezuela, a great business. That money ended up in different hands than what has to do with humanitarian aid. That is very sad to have to say. In addition, the very marked tutelage of the United States over some actors of national politics.
-Are there names and surnames of those actors over whom the US has markedly protected?
-For example, why Democratic Action in the figure of Henry Ramos Allup, did not participate in the presidential electoral process of 2018 and in the 2020 parliamentary elections? I want to point it out very responsibly: the United States has used coercive measures against the children of Ramos Allup. Ramos Allup, just three months before an electoral process was called, agreed to participate, but changed his mind overnight. This generated such friction that the person who served as AD organization secretary, Bernabé Gutiérrez, is today the new general secretary. The issue of Primero Justicia where its main leaders are outside the country under the tutelage of the United States. The theme of Un Nuevo Tiempo, by Manuel Rosales, where there is pressure. The real politicians gave in to the pressure of the Venezuelan plutocracy.
-Going back to the issue of the Venezuela Investment Fund, does that still exist? How much money is there?
-The issue is the following: this fund does not have an organic structure, that is, it is not an official fund; that is not something that is Gazette. No. That was a parapet to get money that was for humanitarian aid or activities related to the political future in Venezuela. The last information that we handle by account statements, and that fund was practically scraped and there is no money there.
-It is not known how much money was in that fund?
-Look at the following, in Spain a series of days were held to collect resources. Let me tell you that at the last donor conference, it was a public event, they raised 500 million euros. Who knows where those 500 million euros are. And at least two more donor conferences were held. It is a lot of money that has been handled.
-The previous AN appointed directives of Citgo and Monómeros, acts that were annulled by the Supreme Court of Justice. But, what did the Commission chaired by you evaluate in those two "administrations"?
-The investigations have shown that the person who sold the crude to be refined through Citgo is a person linked to Henry Ramos Allup, for example. The case of Monomers. Look in the next few days we are going to announce an investigation that is really very shameful. We are going to present to the country situations such as that of a fertilizer company, Colombian-Venezuelan Monómeros is being used as a platform for Colombian criminal groups. I do not want to give more details so as not to cloud the investigation. How were Monomers distributed? This is yours, this is mine; this is the quota of Primero Justicia, this is the quota of AD, of Un Nuevo Tiempo, of Popular Will.
-What did that leadership want with this type of actions investigated by the Special Commission?
-This group of people who at some point had the responsibility of the opposition franchise in Venezuela, really that their true intentions was not to take over formal political power, but to generate a kind of new status quo where power was shared: a group manages the oil reais and another the gold reais. The reality of this country is that some handle Pequiven, but others Monomers.
-And it seems that a Colombian organized crime group entered the distribution that you describe. Is that so?
-Yes, yes, but I want off the record to tell you what we have come to. We detected that Monomers, among its product stand, were manufacturing much more urea. That caught our attention powerfully. When we began to investigate, we found that Guillermo Benzecry Izaguirre, son of Guillermo Benzecry, a well-known horse breeder, is on the ad-hoc board of the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation. In Colombia they call him horsemen; Roberto Benzecry Izaguirre's brother, The Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation, operates from the Monómeros offices in Cali, Colombia and through the figure of Guillermo Benzecry Izaguirre, it would be influencing the increase in urea production to the detriment of other fertilizers. Most of this urea overproduction is being acquired by a holding company managed, directed and planned by his brother Roberto Benzecry Izaguirre. They have a strong connection with Pablo Escobar Gaviria's lieutenant, Fabio Ochoa. And this holding company would be selling urea to the Ochoa cartel and the cartel that alias Double Rueda manages, said to be the one that ran the camps during Operation Gideon. In other words, the real business of Monómeros is to supply urea to the Colombian drug trafficking cartels.
-How much weight has a certain opposition leadership had in the imposition of measures against Venezuela by the United States and Europe?
- I could ask, what has José Brito done so that the US State Department applies a coercive measure? Unfortunately, those who took office for some years, with the consent of all of us, when they saw the franchise they were managing in danger, at risk, well they promoted a set of sanctions against the United States and then against the European Union against Venezuela and leaders. That is to say, it is a coercive measure, of blackmail, but it is a way to tell others 'look what we did to Pedro, María, Juan to Teresa, look what could happen to you'. When we rebelled against what we consider a mockery, a scam to hope for change in Venezuela, we were more than 70 parliamentarians and in the end there were about 30, the rest, most of them were threatened, blackmailed that they were going to take away their visa, get them the children of the United States, prevent him from entering that nation. In particular, the head of the fraction of my party told me to abandon that insurgent movement because they were going to sanction me from the United States. I told him that I did not have a visa or money abroad. I spoke with two of my daughters who are out of the country and they decided to return. That happened with many colleagues.
-Are we far from lifting those measures imposed both on Venezuela and on many of its political leaders?
-I could understand the strategy that the United States proposed against Cuba, for example. Because they ended up developing some swamps, a swampy area of Florida, Miami, with all the Cuban emigration and the money that it generated. But that is not the reality with Venezuela. Those who are advising (President Joe Biden) lead them to a new error, a new horror. Because that instead of bringing the possibility of a solution closer, it moves it away. Here we have to find among all the construction of an exit route for those who are today the Government. If you are going to tell the government that is today that you will shoot him tomorrow when you leave the government, well that one says 'I will never leave and if you remove me you will have to kick me out dead.'
- Is this happening in Apure, where the Fanb and Colombian irregular groups clash, is it part of that strategy carried out by the United States and a certain opposition leadership?
-All this situation of heating up the border as such ... we have to remember, for example, what happened in Bolívar state, in the border states, well, there are a few people imprisoned, some dead, others injured. Searching with crazy and desperate actions, in the case of the assaults on Fort Luepa and other military forts in Bolívar state. Let alone what happens on the Táchira-Colombia border. But what is happening today in Apure has to do largely with political détente and the actions of irregular groups that are seeking to destabilize this country. That in no way contributes to the solution.
-Are you going to participate in the upcoming elections? Which card would it go with?
-We are consistent in saying that it is through the electoral process, in the construction of a new majority that we are going to achieve the political displacement of those who are today the Government. Logically, some mega-lessons are coming and we from Primero Venezuela are going to participate. We are participating in the National Democratic Platform, which is the new name that has been given to the (opposition) democratic alliance towards superior unity. We will present candidates in all the states of the country, in the 335 municipalities, in the 2-odd representatives before the regional legislative councils. We believe that through this great alliance we have to re-politicize the country. These elections are very important because after these mistakes in the fight to achieve change in Venezuela, I believe that change has to happen from the bottom up. We cannot settle for just playing the anti-government and navigating in the face of crisis, in the face of disaster. I think we also have to say what we are, what is the vision of the country that we have. Telling people 'this is wrong, this is wrong, but this is our approach'.
-So you with a unique card or each game with yours?
-We go with a party platform. That this platform of parties, very broad, have unique candidates. In other words, that we have candidates for governors, mayors ... all backed by this platform. What are we looking for? The mechanisms that allow us to find the points of agreement so that we have unique candidates. We are going to privilege consensus. As much consensus as possible, as much primary if applicable, as necessary. Because here whoever tries to take positions of power, and then those positions take it as a trench to continue making the mistakes that have been made up to the present, to seek the insurrectional way, well we cannot make a comparsa of that.
-Do you also carry your handcuffs in your pocket like the deputy Iris Varela?
-I am very clear not to confuse justice with the absurdity of revenge. I know what the rule of law really is and to guarantee due process, the right to legitimate defense and the presumption of innocence. Nor am I a policeman and I am very clear about my role as a parliamentarian and how far my duties go. The National Assembly has the mission of, if it finds, and as it seems to indicate that there are elements of conviction that indicate that patrimonial damage was incurred to the nation, then it will be plenary, once we present the final report, the one that will determine political responsibility over these people. Of the penal and administrative sanctions to which there may be place, it will be through the corresponding instances that will act on the matter.
Retail
+ ”Here are political actors who conspired with politics as a tool and alternative for change. Politics certainly has to be the tool for change. And what is the mechanism? The vote. A good part of the population feels that voting is not the valid and necessary tool to achieve a necessary change in Venezuela ”.
+ “Here everyone talks to the Government; from the man who is there in Spain, Leopoldo López, Juan Guaidó. I am not demonizing that, because I believe that in a normal democracy, it is normal that all political factors have to speak and especially in a troubled country like Venezuela, much more is necessary to speak ”.
+ “I believe that today, unfortunately, an important part of the international community that has had an impact on the Venezuela case is part of the problem. The United States and a part of the European Economic Community are part of the problem in Venezuela. I would like to call you to a deep reflection; I don't think they can go on listening to a single part of the story; there are other actors, there are other spokespersons and that is the crux of the matter ”.
