July 31, 2007  It comes as no surprise that Rafael Correa has handed over once again a two year sweetheart deal to Chavez's own transport company, TRAFIGURA for all handling of Ecuadorean gas shipments. Read a small tale about this adventure here. This is a tale of `what Chavez wants, Chavez gets.' And no- in no way do we buy the theory that just because Trafigura has purchased the allegiance of several in the local business community, that this in any way removes the stench of what TRAFIGURA is and how it operates in Venezuela and Ecuador as Chavez's pet transport monopoly. EL COMERCIO forgets to tell us the whole story in its rush to help the readers foolishly believe that the Correa team had a clean slate of bidders.
 
The only real surprise in the whole article today is that Marc Rich's own TAURUS, another recent winner in the Chavez preferred friendship installation game and new oil driller to Ecuador, was mentioned in the same article as Marc Rich's other affiliated company, GLENCORE and the military's own FLOPEC to add a bit of flair to this dog and pony show, supposedly to show competition.

Noticeably missing was PDVSA precisely because TRAFIGURA, often called a "Dutch commodities company" and recently charged almost $200 million for dumping toxic waste off the Ivory Coast,  does much of their shipping anyway, once again exposing what a phony bid this whole adventure remains.  Trafigura as convicted toxic waste dumper par excellence, causing numerous human deaths, is no steward of Correa's highly prized environmental goals. Trafigura ran afoul of the United Nations in its unending business with Saddam Hussein in the Oil for Food travesty in Iraq. Trafigura, for anyone who pays attention, is part of a very large global oil speculation group which is, like the Bill Clinton-pardoned Marc Rich's many headed hydra, is also linked by many to Russian investors, sometimes called Russian mafias, which are in turn deeply connected to Chavez's own market betting manipulation pools, sometimes called FONDEN, which he also somehow mysteriously wants to pass off to Banco del Sur and all his other adventures in corruption. To understand Chavez is to understand Marc Rich and Trafigura and their associated groups. We do not know the extent of George Soros's interests in Venezuela but Soros himself has stated openly that he himself is no philanthropist because all that he does, he does to make money. What he is doing in Venezuela is not known to the public outside his "philanthropic" NGO activists who also abhor Uribe's principled positions in Colombia.
 
Trafigura and Glencore were also part owners of Arcadia before it changed hands to a more "Cyprus-based" oil transport and trading company, and was a British oil trading group with numerous "offshore" writ hidden, activities and investors.Oddly, reportedly Bermuda-based [aka offshore] Interpetrol and Wilmer Ruperti's Trafigura were both also reported by EL NUEVO HERALD to have double billed Chavez for huge oil deliveries viz deposits to Citibank on Brickell Avenue in Miami, Florida. See numerous reports on these clandestine operatives here.

Interpetrol, sometimes called a "major South American oil trading company," was just cited in VOICE OF AMERICA this month, read here, as charged for criminally double billing the hapless poor people of Burundi in Africa. It seems that Chavez and Correa's team, as so many corrupt third world nations in Africa, have a real "plan" for helping the poor: malfeasance to steal and double bill. Although we do not know what transpired and cannot conclude any assessment without the facts, we do note that Interpetrol was also listed as a defendant in a class action suit against ENRON for insider trading and other corrupt acts.
 
The internet's GOOGLE search, publicly available to any, shares this notice found here linking Trafigura, Interpetrol and Glencore: " Yes S.A. - Ship Agents  (ID: 32472) Introduction to the Company - YES S.A. It's a pleasure to inform you that YES S.A. SHIP AGENTS company has been established since beginning 1995 as independant ships agents and wish to offer our services to attend the regular calls of vessels at Argentinian / Uruguayanports/terminals... YES S.A., is presently acting as sole agent on behalf of Messrs. TRAFIGURA LTD, London / IPINTERNATIONAL S.A., London / LANCER INC, Stamford / INTERPETROL S.A., Buenos Aires and manytimes with GLENCORE LTD, London / ADAM MARITIME INC., Stamford / GLENCORE S.A., Buenos Aires..." The in-country names change, but the many headed hydra remains...and Chavez and Correa's new best friends.
 
All now know that Hugo Chavez has diverted vast amounts of Venezuela's oil monies in to his shadow activities, with the accent on shadow, writ illicit. Nonetheless, as the Ecuadorean bid shows....Correa has plumped up a list of so called competitors for his state held monopoly for gas transport to deliver the contract to Trafigura and lists partners and participants of Chavez's crony oil politburo as bidders or no shows when their other halves supposedly presented bids as well. In other words, the roster of most of the bidders shows a fake competition among aligned groups controlled by this remarkable troika...just for show.
 
Venezuela will never have any credibility unless and until an independent, fully legitimate forensic audit of the Chavez monies is made.

The same can be said for the Rafael Correa regime. A full forensic audit, with corrective steps and enforceable penalties for criminal acts, are badly needed for both governments and is the only item that both Correa and Chavez fear the most. Ecuadoreans, refusing to perform even the most basic and rudimentary due diligence, have enabled once again an in your face scam to proceed and once again have chosen to turn a blind eye to Correa's malfeasance. We remind that it is not nice to hoodwink the IMF/World Bank where public bids are concerned and lying about transparent, open bids is a bad harbinger. It is truly not nice to hoodwink the citizens of Ecuador whose own monies pay this rigged deal. Of course, the IMF knows who these companies are. So too does Interpol if anyone is checking, which obviously they pretend to ignore in their unending pursuit of ignorance as excuse for malfeasance.
 
- The Editors, ECRISIS