My latest - How Cuba taught Venezuela to quash military dissent. We reveal the agreements that let the Cuban government remake Venezuela's security apparatus, including the feared DGCIM military counterintelligence unit: 1/9 reut.rs/2NlY19I
Under the secret 2008 agreements, Cuba would:
- Train Venezuelan military intelligence agents in Havana to infiltrate and control Venezuela's own armed forces
- Take charge of the “assimilation” and "modernization" of Venezuela's military units back home 2/9
I spoke with over 20 ex-Venezuelan military and intelligence officials to trace the DGCIM’s evolution -- from the unit that arrested Chávez during his 1992 coup and conspired against him a decade later, to become Maduro’s key tool of repression against his own military. 3/9
Once Cuba began its training, the DGCIM (then known as the DIM) embedded agents within barracks. They compiled dossiers on perceived troublemakers and reported any signs of disloyalty. The DGCIM tapped the phones of military commanders to listen for conspiracies. 4/9
A recent UN report accused the DGCIM of torture, inc. electric shocks, suffocation, waterboarding, sexual violence, and water/food deprivation. “Those days had no end,” one former DGCIM detainee told me, recalling his abuse. Over 200 soldiers remain in prisons like this one: 5/9
The DGCIM's repression has been so fierce as to stem opposition pleas for a military rebellion against Maduro. “We have failed,” an opposition official, involved in attempts to broker talks with military leaders, told me. “We have nothing to offer to convince them.” 6/9
In Cuba, most of the DGCIM’s training took place at the Arides Estévez Sánchez Military Academy (pictured) in western Havana. The DGCIM sent groups of 40 officers here for up to three months of espionage training. Cuba vetted the agents’ resumes first. 7/9
Cuba also created a committee called the Coordination and Liaison Group of the Republic of Cuba (GRUCE) to send advisors to Venezuela to inspect military units. One former DGCIM agent said Cuban instructors in Venezuela drilled him with questions about his political beliefs. 8/9
Cuba's foreign minister in March said: “I strongly reject repeated and false accusations…of Cuban military ‘training,’ ‘controlling’ or ‘intimidating’ in Venezuela.” Maduro has said: “We are grateful to Cuba’s revolutionary armed forces. We…will always welcome them.” 9/9
Reuters earlier published my and @tomwilson1983's investigation into crypto giant Binance's money laundering compliance. We reviewed internal docs and messages, and spoke with ex-staff and partners around the world.
In public, Binance said it welcomed government oversight and vowed to help stop money laundering. At the same time, we found it was withholding information from regulators, maintaining weak checks on users and acting against its own compliance department’s recommendations 2/10
In messages we reviewed, Binance staff, including the chief compliance officer and global money laundering reporting officer, raised worries about weak “know-your-customer” checks aimed at preventing money laundering. One wrote, "Reduce KYC. Raise Limits. BEST COMBO" 3/10
NEW: Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores has a long record as the power behind Maduro. Now, with the help of her jailed ex-bodyguard, the U.S. is preparing to charge her with drug trafficking.
In his first interview, I spoke with Yazenky Lamas, who worked to protect Flores over a decade. In 2016 he was arrested in Colombia on a US warrant for drug charges.
He says he is speaking out because Flores betrayed him: “I was loyal to them. But they weren’t loyal to me.” 2/6
To chart Flores' influence, we interviewed 20 other associates and observers. They portray her as a stealthy strategist who now brandishes much of the power of Maduro’s office, helping him outmaneuver rivals amid rising pressure.
Today @Reuters published my story on one aspect of how corruption has crippled Venezuela's development. We look at how a Chinese state firm allegedly bribed its way into a multi-billion dollar contract and left millions of intended recipients hungry: 1/10 reut.rs/2H4Xm8R
Since 2007, Venezuela and China have agreed to hundreds of projects meant to improve access to food, power and water. I visited Chinese projects in Delta Amacuro, Guárico and Monagas states aimed at boosting food production. Little work was done. Farming is moribund. 2/10
One $200 mln project by China's CAMC in Delta Amacuro was meant to build Latin America's largest rice plant and develop 11,000 hectares of rice fields to provide food and jobs to locals. “Rice Power! Agricultural power!” Hugo Chávez tweeted when it was announced in 2010. 3/10
Today @Reuters published my investigation into how Chinese telecoms giant ZTE is helping Venezuela build a system that monitors citizen behavior through a new ID card, known as the “fatherland card.” Here´s a thread on how the story developed 1/14 reuters.com/investigates/s…
I moved to Venezuela just before Maduro´s May re-election. That day, I was fascinated by the govt´s use of so-called red point stands to record who had turned out to vote. Socialist Party activists were scanning voters´ fatherland cards and promising them prizes for doing so 2/14
Maduro for the past year had urged citizens to sign up for the card, calling it essential to “build the new Venezuela.” 18 mln have done so, per state figures. His govt is increasingly linking the card to subsidized food, health and other social programs. 3/14