lily
12-23-2007, 10:54 PM
Hmmmmmmmmm (http://login.live.com/login.srf?id=2&vv=500&lc=1033)
Stakes High For U.S. and Argentina in Cash Scandal
Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson was stopped with $800,000 in cash.
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 23, 2007; Page A01
BUENOS AIRES -- The twisted mystery of an $800,000 suitcase confiscated in
Argentina has kicked up so much dirt that almost everyone who gets near
it -- even if clean -- is accused of being filthy.
Businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, who holds U.S. and Venezuelan
passports, was stopped at an airport here in August with a suitcase full of
undeclared cash. His visit raised immediate suspicions.
Is Antonini a bagman used by the government of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez to
deliver illegal political money to the candidate who would become
Argentina's president, as a federal grand jury in Florida charged last week?
Or is the United States using the Florida resident to meddle in the affairs
of the region, as many here have argued?
If the U.S. case does not definitively prove the link between the Venezuelan
government and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's
campaign, the United States' reputation in Latin America could suffer a
serious blow. But if the case presented leaves little room for doubt, then
the new president could be starting her four-year term under a very dark
cloud.
U.S. prosecutors say they will prove in court that Antonini was carrying an
illegal contribution to Fernández de Kirchner's campaign from the Venezuelan
government, and that the two countries tried to pay him $2 million to hush
up the deal after the money was found.
Argentine officials have responded in a how-dare-you tone, countering that
the dirt in this case comes from a U.S. smear campaign designed to discredit
them and Chávez. Politicians and others here suggest that Antonini -- who is
cooperating with the FBI -- was operating under U.S. orders.
The United States "encouraged a nefarious intelligence operation which had
the direct consequence of denigrating the presidency of our nation," stated
a resolution passed by Argentina's Congress last week.
The idea of a U.S.-backed plot to influence regional politics plays well in
a region where some conspiracy theories -- such as U.S. support of military
dictatorships in the 1970s -- have proved true over time. But as Antonini's
trail continues to be revealed, such allegations are anything but clear.
Antonini, 46, is listed as residing in Key Biscayne, Fla. Argentine
newspapers have published photographs of a luxury residence and a red
Ferrari said to belong to him. Attempts to reach him by telephone were
unsuccessful.
He arrived at a Buenos Aires airport about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 4 with
Venezuelan state energy officials. Their Cessna plane was chartered by
Argentina's state oil company. Chávez was scheduled to arrive two days later
to sign a series of energy accords with Argentina.
"If Venezuela wanted to give money to Cristina's campaign, why would they do
it with this guy?" said Daniel Mojica, 54, manager of an electronics store
in Buenos Aires. "Chávez arrived two days later with 24 bags, and with
diplomatic immunity. He could have brought $24 million here by himself."
But if he had no connection with Chávez or the Kirchners, new revelations
this week have others asking another question about Antonini: Why did he
supposedly show up in Argentina's presidential palace two days after he
arrived?
After Antonini was stopped at the airport, Argentine authorities let him go.
An Argentine judge on Thursday said a witness -- the former secretary for
the Argentine official who chartered the Cessna flight -- testified that she
saw Antonini on Aug. 6 at a ceremony in Argentina's Casa Rosada.
Antonini left Argentina on Aug. 7 using a U.S. passport and stopped in
Uruguay -- where Chávez also traveled that day -- before returning to his
home in Florida.
Argentine authorities a month later asked the United States to extradite
Antonini to face possible currency smuggling violations in Argentina, but
the FBI already was secretly using Antonini as an informant, monitoring his
telephone calls and his meetings with alleged Venezuelan agents in Florida,
according to an indictment filed in Miami on Wednesday.
The indictment stated that Antonini on Aug. 23 met three Venezuelans at a
Fort Lauderdale steakhouse. The Venezuelans informed Antonini that the money
he was given came from the Venezuelan government and was meant for Fernández
de Kirchner's campaign, and they warned him that foreign government
officials would pursue him unless he claimed the money was his own,
according to court documents.
Those three Venezuelans, plus one Uruguayan, are under arrest in Miami and
have been charged with being illegal agents of Venezuela operating in the
United States. A fifth man, also from Venezuela, was indicted but remains at
large. If convicted, each faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in
fines. They are scheduled to enter their pleas Dec. 28.
On Dec. 7, two of the Venezuelans -- Carlos Kauffmann and Franklin Dur¿n --
sued American Express Bank International in Miami for withholding millions
of dollars in their bank accounts because the two men were listed by the
government as "Politically Exposed Persons." The term generally applies to
individuals who are foreign government officials, though their family
members and associates also can be included under that designation. The USA
Patriot Act requires financial institutions to review thoroughly the
accounts of such people.
In addition to being alleged agents of Venezuela, Kauffmann and Durán own
Industrias Venoco, a petrochemical and oil services company that does
business with Venezuela's state oil company. Dur¿n is also co-owner of an
arms importing company that has provided weapons for police agencies in
Venezuela.
On Dec. 11, Durán gave Antonini documents to cover up the true source and
destination of the $800,000, according to the indictment. The FBI arrested
the four accused agents the following day.
"I think people should sort of step back, calm down and take a deep breath,"
said Michael Shifter, a Washington-based analyst with the Inter-American
Dialogue. "Clearly this is a scandal with very serious implications, but
there are still a lot of unanswered questions."
Stakes High For U.S. and Argentina in Cash Scandal
Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson was stopped with $800,000 in cash.
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 23, 2007; Page A01
BUENOS AIRES -- The twisted mystery of an $800,000 suitcase confiscated in
Argentina has kicked up so much dirt that almost everyone who gets near
it -- even if clean -- is accused of being filthy.
Businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, who holds U.S. and Venezuelan
passports, was stopped at an airport here in August with a suitcase full of
undeclared cash. His visit raised immediate suspicions.
Is Antonini a bagman used by the government of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez to
deliver illegal political money to the candidate who would become
Argentina's president, as a federal grand jury in Florida charged last week?
Or is the United States using the Florida resident to meddle in the affairs
of the region, as many here have argued?
If the U.S. case does not definitively prove the link between the Venezuelan
government and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's
campaign, the United States' reputation in Latin America could suffer a
serious blow. But if the case presented leaves little room for doubt, then
the new president could be starting her four-year term under a very dark
cloud.
U.S. prosecutors say they will prove in court that Antonini was carrying an
illegal contribution to Fernández de Kirchner's campaign from the Venezuelan
government, and that the two countries tried to pay him $2 million to hush
up the deal after the money was found.
Argentine officials have responded in a how-dare-you tone, countering that
the dirt in this case comes from a U.S. smear campaign designed to discredit
them and Chávez. Politicians and others here suggest that Antonini -- who is
cooperating with the FBI -- was operating under U.S. orders.
The United States "encouraged a nefarious intelligence operation which had
the direct consequence of denigrating the presidency of our nation," stated
a resolution passed by Argentina's Congress last week.
The idea of a U.S.-backed plot to influence regional politics plays well in
a region where some conspiracy theories -- such as U.S. support of military
dictatorships in the 1970s -- have proved true over time. But as Antonini's
trail continues to be revealed, such allegations are anything but clear.
Antonini, 46, is listed as residing in Key Biscayne, Fla. Argentine
newspapers have published photographs of a luxury residence and a red
Ferrari said to belong to him. Attempts to reach him by telephone were
unsuccessful.
He arrived at a Buenos Aires airport about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 4 with
Venezuelan state energy officials. Their Cessna plane was chartered by
Argentina's state oil company. Chávez was scheduled to arrive two days later
to sign a series of energy accords with Argentina.
"If Venezuela wanted to give money to Cristina's campaign, why would they do
it with this guy?" said Daniel Mojica, 54, manager of an electronics store
in Buenos Aires. "Chávez arrived two days later with 24 bags, and with
diplomatic immunity. He could have brought $24 million here by himself."
But if he had no connection with Chávez or the Kirchners, new revelations
this week have others asking another question about Antonini: Why did he
supposedly show up in Argentina's presidential palace two days after he
arrived?
After Antonini was stopped at the airport, Argentine authorities let him go.
An Argentine judge on Thursday said a witness -- the former secretary for
the Argentine official who chartered the Cessna flight -- testified that she
saw Antonini on Aug. 6 at a ceremony in Argentina's Casa Rosada.
Antonini left Argentina on Aug. 7 using a U.S. passport and stopped in
Uruguay -- where Chávez also traveled that day -- before returning to his
home in Florida.
Argentine authorities a month later asked the United States to extradite
Antonini to face possible currency smuggling violations in Argentina, but
the FBI already was secretly using Antonini as an informant, monitoring his
telephone calls and his meetings with alleged Venezuelan agents in Florida,
according to an indictment filed in Miami on Wednesday.
The indictment stated that Antonini on Aug. 23 met three Venezuelans at a
Fort Lauderdale steakhouse. The Venezuelans informed Antonini that the money
he was given came from the Venezuelan government and was meant for Fernández
de Kirchner's campaign, and they warned him that foreign government
officials would pursue him unless he claimed the money was his own,
according to court documents.
Those three Venezuelans, plus one Uruguayan, are under arrest in Miami and
have been charged with being illegal agents of Venezuela operating in the
United States. A fifth man, also from Venezuela, was indicted but remains at
large. If convicted, each faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in
fines. They are scheduled to enter their pleas Dec. 28.
On Dec. 7, two of the Venezuelans -- Carlos Kauffmann and Franklin Dur¿n --
sued American Express Bank International in Miami for withholding millions
of dollars in their bank accounts because the two men were listed by the
government as "Politically Exposed Persons." The term generally applies to
individuals who are foreign government officials, though their family
members and associates also can be included under that designation. The USA
Patriot Act requires financial institutions to review thoroughly the
accounts of such people.
In addition to being alleged agents of Venezuela, Kauffmann and Durán own
Industrias Venoco, a petrochemical and oil services company that does
business with Venezuela's state oil company. Dur¿n is also co-owner of an
arms importing company that has provided weapons for police agencies in
Venezuela.
On Dec. 11, Durán gave Antonini documents to cover up the true source and
destination of the $800,000, according to the indictment. The FBI arrested
the four accused agents the following day.
"I think people should sort of step back, calm down and take a deep breath,"
said Michael Shifter, a Washington-based analyst with the Inter-American
Dialogue. "Clearly this is a scandal with very serious implications, but
there are still a lot of unanswered questions."